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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



GEOGRAPHY, 



HISTORY, AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



MINNESOTA; 



ABSTRACTS OP THE CONSTITUTIONS OF MINNE- 
SOTA AND THE UNITED STATES 
OP AMERICA. 



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CHOOL HjDITION 



MINNEAPOLIS: 
TURNER & HARRINGTON. 

1883. 



Copyright, 1882, by Frederick W. Harrington. 



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PREFACE. 



Parents and Teachers: 

The idea of preparing this book was suggested to the author 
by practical teachers in the Northwest, during a business inter- 
course with them covering the greater portion of the last ten 
years. 

On the first appearance of this little volume, many will 
doubtless exclaim: We already have too many studies in our 
schools; the curriculum is now crowded! I do not propose to 
discuss this question, but simply to state that the introduction 
of this work in our schools would not add to the number of 
studies. We now teach Geography, History, and Civil Gov- 
ernment, and why not commence these studies at their natural 
starting point — at home? 

Without seeming to presume too much, I venture to make 
the following suggestions to teachers and leaders in the cause of 
education in the State of Minnesota: When the pupil has 
become acquainted with geographical definitions, introduce him 
to the study of the Geography of his own State. Before tak- 
ing up the History of the United States, let him learn some- 
thing of the History of Minnesota. And, what is perhaps of 
the most importance, let our boys and girls be thoroughly 
drilled, at least so -far as the facilities are available, in the Civil 
Government of the State of Minnesota. 

I think that these studies should be immediately followed 
by United States Geography, History, and Civil Government, 
when the length of the pupil's course will admit of it, but if 
there is not time for all, which is often the case in our country 
schools, give him that which will the most surely aid in fitting 
him to occupy the position of an intelligent and practical citi- 
zen of Minnesota. 

Great anxiety has been felt, both by myself and co-laborers, 
lest in the condensation of the voluminous matter of the sub- 



PREFACE. ill 

ject under treatment, some details might be omitted that are 
even of more importance than some which arc preserved; but 
great care has been exercised with a view to showing, mainly, 
the superstructure on which the several departments are based. 

It is not my intention to even suggest to teachers or hoards 
of education a plan of adapting this compilation to the various 
school courses, but to submit it as it is. leaving the question of 
adaptation for others to decide, f have given in this work my 
idea as to the scope of these studies in the schools of to-day, and 
will feel highly gratified if I have laid but one stone in the 
foundation on which to build a course of study that will give to 
the future men and women of Minnesota, a thorough knowl- 
edge of their rights and duties as citizens of the commonwealth 
in which they reside. 

I must not close this introductory note without a public 
acknowledgment of invaluable services rendered me by State 
Superintendent D. L. Kiehle; Prof. C. C. Curtiss, of the Curtiss 
Business Colleges; Prof. J. L. Noyes, President of the Deaf and 
Dumb Institution, of Faribault; Rev. Edward D. Neill Presi- 
dent of Macalester College; and many others ecpLially interested 
iu the plan of imparting to the youth of our State a fuller 
knowledge of their home and surroundings. 

Very Respectfully, 

Frederick W. Harrington. 



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CONTENTS. 



GEOGEAPHY OF MINNESOTA. 

PAGE. 

Physical Description 1-7 

Civil Divisions i . 8-48 

HISTOEY OF MINNESOTA. 

The Indians When First Visited by the French 1-5 

The French Explorations 5-14 

The British Flag in Minnesota 14-16 

First U. S Soldiers in Minnesota . '. 16-22 

The Approach of Civilization 22-25 

The Territory op Minnesota 25-34 

Steps Preparatory to Minnesota's Admission 35-37 

The State op Minnesota 37-39 

The Sioux Massacre 40-43 

Minnesota After the Civil War 43-46 

Notices of Governors and Congressmen .46-52 

CIVIL GOVEENMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

Town Government 1-8 

County Government 9-17 

Village Government 18-19 

City Government 19-21 

State Government 22-33 

Elections ' 34-38 

Public Education , 38-43 

Benevolent Institutions 44-45 

Penal Institutions 45-47 

Law as to Marriage 47-49 

Abstract of State Constitution 49-53 

Abstract of U. S. Constitution 54-62 



TRIBUNE JOB PRINT MINNEAPOLIS 



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GEOGRAPHY 



OF 



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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION. 
CHAPTER I. ' 



BOUNDARIES. 

1. Minnesota is the northernmost State in the valley of 
the Mississippi river, and is situated upon the elevated central 
plateau of North America. 

2. It extends from the forty-third and a half degree, 
to the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, and from the 
ninety-first to the ninety-seventh meridian of longitude west 
of Greenwich. 

3. It is about three hundred and seventy-five miles in 
length, with an average breadth of two hundred and fifty 
miles. It contains 83,530 square miles, or nearly 54,000,000 
acres. 

4. It is bordered on the east by Lake Superior and the State 
of Wisconsin. It is separated from this State by the St. Louis 
river to its rapids, thence by a line due south to the Saint Croix 
river, which is the eastern boundary until it meets the Missis- 
sippi, when that stream becomes the boundary, to the Iowa line. 

5. The western boundary is Dakota Territory, and begins in 



2 GEOGKAPHY. 

the middle of the channel of the Red River of the North, where 
the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude crosses the same,thence 
up the Red river to Bois des Sioux river, and up the latter to 
Lake Traverse, and through its centre to its outlet. From 
thence, by a due south line to the head of Big Stone Lake, and 
through its centre to its outlet, and thence by a due south line 
to the northern boundary of the State of Iowa. 

6. The northern boundary of Minnesota is the Dominion 
of Canada, and begins on Lake Superior at the mouth of Pigeon 
river, and proceeds up that stream through a chain of lakes to 
Rainy Lake,thence through Rainy Lake river to the Lake of the 
Woods, and through its centre to the most northwestern point, 
and from thence due south to the forty-ninth parallel of north 
latitude, and along this to the Red River of the North. 

7. The southern boundary is the State of Iowa, from which 
it is separated by neither rivers of any length, nor lakes of any 
great size. 

RIVERS. 

8. In Minnesota are the remote sources of great rivers, 
whose waters flow in different directions, and at_ length mingle 
with those of the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson's Bay, and the At- 
lantic ocean. 

9. Amid the drift and moraines of Beltrami county is the 
most northern source of the Mississippi -Turtle Lake, which was 
explored in A. D. 1798, and described by David Thompson the 
^astronomer of the Northwest company « and the most western 
source is the rivulets which supply Itasca lake on the western 
border of Cass county. 

10. The Mississippi river flows by a winding course, until 
upon a rocky bottom it descends fourteen feet in a few }^ards, 
at Pokeguma Falls, and a few miles below are the Grand Rapids, 
the head of steamboat navigation above Aitkin. A few miles 
above Brainerd are the French rapids, and between these and 
the Falls of Saint Anthony are several rapids, among the 
most important of which are Little Falls and Sauk Rapids. 

11. The natural fall at St. Anthony, now in the midst of 
the city of Minneapolis, before artificial dams were constructed, 
was about seventeen feet. From the mouth of the Minnesota 
to the Gulf of Mexico, at a good stage of water, large steam- 



MINNESOTA. 6 

boats ascend and descend with ease. In Minnesota this river is 
a central stream, while it is a border stream to the other States 
of the valley. 

12. The principal tributaries from the east, within the State, 
are the Platte, Elk, Rum, and Saint Croix rivers. 

13. The Saint Croix is the most important of these. It is 
about one hundred and fifty miles in length, and takes its rise 
in Upper Saint Croix Lake, and sixty miles from its mouth it 
rushes through walls of rock, its falls there being surrounded 
by grand scenery. To the vicinity of the fall steamboats ap- 
proach. From the rapids its enlargement into the lake of the 
same name is thirty-five miles, and issuing from the lake it 
flows into the Mississippi river. 

14. The principal tributaries of the Mississippi on the west 
side are the Crow Wing, Swan, Crow, Minnesota, Vermillion, 
Cannon, Eau Embarras, corrupted into Zumbro, and Root 
rivers. 

15. The Minnesota is the largest. Its source is west of 
Big Stone Lake, from which it runs in a southeasterly direction 
through Lac qui Parle, and between this lake and the Blue Earth 
river are the Granite Falls, Beaver Falls, and Red Wood Falls, 
where the river flows between granite knolls and hills. At the 
Blue Earth river, its principal tributary, the Minnesota changes 
its course, at a right angle, and flows northeastward until it 
enters the Mississippi river at Fort Snelling. 

16. The Bois des Sioux tributary of the Red River of the 
North rises in Lake Traverse, while its principal source is the 
Otter Tail river, which flows from the lake of its name. From 
the mouth of the Otter Tail the Red river flows northward 
until it passes into Manitoba at the forty-ninth parallel of north 
latitude, and continues on until it reaches Lake Winnipeg, and 
from thence its waters pass through Nelson river into Hudson's 
Bay. It is but a short distance from the Otter Tail lake, a trib- 
utary of this stream, and Leaf Lake, whose waters flow into a 
tributary of the Mississippi. 

17. The tributaries of the Red river in Minnesota are the 
Otter Tail, Buffalo, Wild Rice, and Red Lake rivers. 

18. The Saint Louis river is fed by several small streams 
which flow from the north. After it reaches Knife Falls its 



4 GEOGRAPHY. 

waters become a series of rapids, cascades, and falls, in fifteen 

miles falling five hundred feet. Pursuing its course through 

i picturesque gorges it reaches Lake Superior, and its waters at 

! length mingle with the Atlantic ocean by way of the river 

1 Saint Lawrence. 

LAKES. 

19. The portion of Minnesota between the Saint Croix 
river and Red River of the North is dotted with thousands of 
lakes, many of which, with high banks, pebbly bottoms, and 
abundance of fish are very attractive. 

20. Red lake, in Beltrami county, with an area of 340,000 
acres, and its shape resembling the figure 8, is the largest in the 
State. Mille Lacs, partly in Aitkin county, covering about 
130,000 aeres, is the second in size. 

21. Leech lake, in Cass county, whose area is estimated at 
114,000 acres, is the third in size. 

22. Lake Winnebagoshish is the fourth, covering 56,000 
acres. 

23. Lake Minnetonka is the fifth, with an area of 16,000 
acres. 

SWAMPS. 

24. The swamps of the north are interesting, and a par- 
adise to the wild ducks, pigeons, and muskrats. 

25. Some are luxuriant with the cranberry bush. Others 
are filled with tamarack or larch, which are tall, and in diame- 
ter from six to ten inches. The timber is not easy to splits 
but is useful for fences in its round state. 

ealls . 

26* The State has a number of waterfalls, the most import- 
ant of which are the Falls of St. Anthony, in the city of 
Minneapolis, the St Croix Falls, and those of the Saint Louis 
river. 

27. A small but picturesque fall, on a rivulet which flows into 
the Mississippi river between Minneapolis and Fort Snelling, has 
become well known through one of Longfellow's poems. Its 
first name was prosaic Brown's Falls, named after General 



MINNESOTA. 5 

Jacob Brown, of the United States army, but it is now called 
Minnehaha, a more poetic name. 

QUESTIONS. 

Between what degrees of latitude is Minnesota? Between what de- 
grees of longitude? Describe the eastern boundary? Describe the 
western boundary? Describe the northern boundary? Describe the 
southern boundary? Mention the largest rivers? Where is the north- 
ernmost source of the Mississippi? Who first explored it? Where is 
the western source? Give a general description of the Mississippi 
within the limits of Minnesota? Mention its principal eastern tributa- 
ries? Describe the Saint Croix river? Mention the chief western 
tributaries? Describe the Minnesota river? Describe the Ked River 
of the North? Describe the Saint Louis river? What is said of the 
number and character of the lakes ? Mention in order the dimensions of 
the five largest lakes? What is said about the swamps? 



PRAIRIE AND TIMBER LAND. 

1. About two-thirds of the State is treeless, with the excep- 
tion of small groves, and the woods along the banks of streams 

2. The rest of the State is well wooded. The pine forests 
between the Saint Croix and Mississippi rivers are very exten- 
sive, and furnish the supply for the mills at Stillwater and Min- 
neapolis. 

3. Among other trees of Minnesota are the oak, maple, butter- 
nut, ash, cottonwood, poplar, birch, and willow. 

CLIMATE. 

4. It appears from observations at the United States signal 
office at St. Paul for six years ending with A. D. 1880, that the 
mean winter temperature was 18° 45'; the mean temperature for 
spring months was 45° 50'; the mean temperature for summer 
months was 70° 49'; and for the autumn months, 44° 14'. 

5. The number of fair and clear days for the same period 
should be remembered: 

1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 

Winter 56 66 57 50 60 69 

Spring 54 57 58 65 68 65 

Summer 77 86 89 73 72 76 

Autumn 80 75 63 71 74 59 

Total 267 284 267 259 274 269 



O GEOGRAPHY. 

AGRICULTURE. 

6. The principal grain cultivated is spring wheat, and its 
average yield has been about fifteen bushels to the acre. In the 
year 1880 there were about 45,000,000 bushels raised. During 
the same year over 3,000,000 of bushels of barley were har- 
vested. 

7. The oats are of fine quality, and in 1880 there was a pro- 
duct of nearly 27,500,000 bushels. 

8. Even corn in portions of the State is a success, during 
the same year about 16,000,000 of bushels having been gath- 
ered. Hemp and flax grow finely, and every year more acres are 
added to those already devoted to their cutlivation. 

9. The soil is well adapted, to potatoes, and in 1880 about 
4,000,000 of bushels were obtained. Turnips, pumpkins,squashes, 
peas, and beans repay the farmer for their cultivation. 

STOCK RAISING. 

10. Pure air, excellent grasses, and an abundance of good 
water, which abound in Minnesota, makes it favorable for cat- 
tle. It has also proved favorable for dairies, and in one year 
16,000,000 pounds of butter and 600,000 pounds of cheese were 
made. 

MINERALS. 

1 1 . Copper has been found in several localities, but no mine 
has as yet been opened which has proved profitable. 

12. Iron in large quantities has been found in the Vermil- 
lion Lake district in Saint Louis county, and as soon as the rail- 
road to the minesfrom Lake Superior is completed, will be valuable. 

MANUFACTURES. 

13. As yet the manufacture of flour and wood is most 
largely developed. 

14. Nearly five hundred flouring mills are in operation, and 
Minnesota flour has a reputation throughout the civilized world. 
A description of some of the largest mills will be found under 
Hennepin county. 

15. More than two hundred saw mills have been erected, 
th« principal of which are at Stillwater and Minneapolis, and in 
1880, there was cut about 470,000,000 feet of lumber, 180,000,- 
000 of shingles, and 160,000,000 of lath. 



MINNESOTA. 7 

16. Beside saw mills, there are carriage, wagon, barrel, and 
furniture factories, as well as those for harvesting and other ag- 
ricultural implements. 

POPULATION. 

17- The total population of Minnesota was 780,713, by the 
last census. Of this number over 300,000 were born in the 
State, and about 210,000 in other of the United States of 
America. Almost two-thirds of the inhabitants are natives of 
the Republic. 

18- The foreign born number 267,676, and of these the na- 
tives of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are 107,770, making 
nearly one-seventh of the population Scandinavian in ori- 
gin; those from the German empire number 77,705; those from 
Great Britain, Ireland, and English colonies number 68,277, and 
from all other countries, there are by the census, 14,154 persons. 

QUESTIONS. 

How large a portion of the State is prairie land ? What and where 
are the forests? Mention the principal trees? What is the mean 
winter temperature ? Mention the mean spring temperature? What 
is the mean summer temperature? The mean winter temper- 
ature? Mention the number of clear days in 1880? Give the 
number in winter, spring, summer, and autumn of this year? Give 
the principal grains raised? Mention the average yield of wheat? 
The average yield of barley? How many bushels of oats in 1880 
were raised ? How much corn was raised ? What is said as to hemp 
and flax ? How many bushels of potatoes were obtained ? How many 
pounds of butter and cheese? What is said of copper? Where are 
the iron deposits ? What is said of the flour manufacture? What is 
said of lumber? Mention other manufactures? Give the population 
by the last census? How many were born in Minnesota? How many 
in other of the United States? What proportion of the population are 
native born ? What is the number of foreign born ? What proportion 
of the entire population are Scandinavian? How many born in the 
German empire? How many under the British flag? 



GEOGKAPHY. 



CHAPTER II. 
CIVIL DIVISIONS, 



1. The State, in A. D. 1883, had eighty counties, the first 
hhree organized in A. D. 1849, were Benton, Ramsey, and Wash- 
ington, and the last and only one established in A. D. 1883, was 
Hubbard county. 

2. Thirty-one of these counties are situated south of the 
Minnesota river, and of these Houston, Fillmore, Mower, Free- 
born, Faribault, Martin, Jackson, Nobles, and Rock adjoin the 
northern boundary of Iowa. 

3. The counties adjoining Canada are Cook, Lake, Saint 
Louis, Itasca, Beltrami, and Kittson. 

4 The most eastern counties are Houston, Winona, Waba- 
sha, Goodhue, Dakota, Washington, Chisago, Pine, Carlton, St. 
Louis, Lake, and Cook. 

5. The counties on the west adjoining Dakota Territory are 
Rock, Pipe Stone, Lincoln, Yellow Medicine, Lac qui Parle, Big 
Stone, Traverse, Wilkin, Clay, Polk, Marshall, and Kittson. 

QUESTIONS. 

How many counties in the State in 1883? When were the first 
counties created? Name them? What counties adjoin the northern 
boundary of Iowa? What counties adjoin Dakota? Name those ad- 
joining the Dominion of Canada? 

AITKIN COUNTY. 

1. Aitkin county exists by an act of the legislature of 1857. 
It is named in compliment to William Aitkin, a Scotchman by 
birth, who for years was an Indian trader at Sandy Lake. 

2. On the east it adjoins St. Louis, Carlton, and Pine coun- 
ties; on the west it touches Cass and Crow Wing counties; 
on the north Cass and Itasca counties; and on the south it is 
bounded by Kanabec and Mille Lacs counties. 

3. The Mississippi flows through it in a southwesterly di- 
rection, and passes out of it about the middle of its western 
boundary. Sandy Lake, the halting place of the early explorers, 



MINNESOTA. 9 

David Thompson, the astronomer of the Northwest company, 
and of Governor Lewis Cass, of Michigan, in 1820, is wholly 
within its borders. Mille Lacs covers a portion of its southwest- 
ern extremity. 

4. By the census of 1880 its population was 366, including 
Indians and half-breeds, who were about sixty in number. Its 
county seat is Aitkin, on the line of the Northern Pacific rail- 
road, eighty-seven miles west of Lake Superior. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the date of the act creating Aitkin county ? For whom was 
it named? Bound it? What noted lake is in this couDty? What 
important historical facts are connected with this lake? 

ANOKA COUNTY. 

1. Anoka county was created by the legislature of 1857. 
The word Anoka is from the Sioux or Dakota language, and 
signifies u on both sides.' 1 

2. Its boundaries on the east are Chisago and Washington 
counties; on the west, Sherburne and Hennepin; on the north, 
Isanti; and on the south, Ramsey and Hennepin. 

3. Its extreme length from north to south is twenty-six 
miles, while its breadth varies from three to twenty-four miles. 
Its area is 440,000 square miles. Its agricultural products are 
wheat, oats, potatoes, and other cereals and roots. 

4. The population in 1880 was 7,083, of whom 1,894 were 
foreign born. 

5. Its county seat is Anoka, and so called because on both 
sides of the Rum river, and it has a population of 2,706 persons. 
It is organized as a city, and contains several large flouring and 
saw mills. It has a Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Lutheran, 
Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Universalist church. Two 
newspapers are there published. It has also a good system of 
public schools, including a high school. 

QUESTIONS. 
In what year was the act passed creating Anoka county? Bound it? 
What is its area? Whence is its name derived? What are the relig- 
ious and educational advantages? 

BECKER COUKTY. 

1. Backer county exists by an act of the legislature in 1858. 



10 GEOGRAPHY. 

and is named after George L. Becker,a lawyer who had been mayor 
of Saint Paul, and elected one of the first three members of con- 
gress in 1857, to which it was supposed Minnesota was entitled. 

2. On the east are Hubbard and Wadena counties; on the 
west, Clay county; on the north, Beltrami and Norman coun- 
ties; and on the south, Otter Tail county. 

3. It abounds in many lakes, and Otter Tail river rises 
within its borders. The Northern Pacific railroad enters it 
about the middle of its southern border, and running north- 
westerly leaves it near the middle of the western boundary. 

4. It had a population in 1880 of 4,407 persons, of whom. 
1,940 were foreign born. 

5. Its county seat, Detroit, is beautifully situated on a 
lake of the same name, and on the Northern Pacific railroad. 
The other chief towns are Audubon and Lake Park. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Becker county created? For whom was it named? 
Bound it? What are its chief physical characteristics? What rail- 
road passes through it? What are the principal towns in the county? 
BELTRAMI COUNTY. 

1. Beltrami county exists by an act of the legislature of 
1866, and is named in compliment to an Italian, J. C. Beltrami, 
a political exile who traveled in this region and wrote a book 
on the sources of the Mississippi river. 

2. Its eastern boundary is Itasca county; its western, Kitt- 
son, Marshall, Polk, and Norman counties; its northern, Mani- 
toba and Lake of the Woods; and its southern, Becker and 
Cass counties. 

3. It is as yet unorganized, and therefore has no county 
seat. In it is Turtle Lake, explored by David Thompson, the- 
astronomer of the Northwest company, in 1798, and the most 
northern source of the Mississippi river. 

4. It also contains Red Lake, the largest lake within the 

boundaries of Minnesota. A large part of the county is still a 

reservation of the Ojibway or Chippewa Indians, and there is an 

agency at Red Lake. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Beltrami county created? For whom was it named? 

Bound it? What is its civil condition? What important lake within 

its borders? What Indian reservation is in this county. 



MINNESOTA. H 

nENTON COUNTY. 

1. Benton county was created in October, 1849, and is one 
of the oldest in the State. It was named after the late Thomas 
H. Benton, United States senator from Missouri. On its east- 
ern border is Mille Lacs county; on its western, Stearns and 
Morrison counties; on its northern, Morrison; and on its south- 
ern, Sherburne. 

2. The Mississippi river flows along its western boundary 
and separates it from Stearns county. 

3. Its population is 3,012 by the last census, of which 856 
were foreign born. 

4. Sauk Rapids, the county seat, is situated in the southwest- 
ern portion of the county, on the Mississippi opposite the mouth 
of Sauk river. The rapids at this point form a most valuable 
water power, and gives importance to the place. The granite 
which abounds in the vicinity is quarried for building purposes. 

5. The Northern Pacific railroad passes through Sauk Rap- 
ids and along the western border of Benton county. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Benton county created? For whom was it named? 
Bound it ? Name the county seat ? What railroad passes through the 
county ? 

BIG STONE COUNTY. 

1. Big Stone county is named after the lake which forms 
its western boundary, and in 1862 was created, although not 
organized until 1881. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Stevens and Swift counties; 
on the west it is separated from Dakota Territory by Big 
Stone Lake; on the north by Stevens and Traverse counties; 
and on the south it is separated from Lac qui Parle county by 
the Minnesota river. 

4. Near Big Stone Lake, called by the Sioux Eatakeka, is the 
source of the Minnesota river. 

5. Ortonville, the principal town, is at the lower extremity 
of the lake. 

6. The Hastings and Dakota railroad, a branch of the Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, runs through the southern tier of 



12 GEOGRAPHY. 

townships, and at Ortonville crosses the river into Dakota Ter- 
ritory. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Big Stone county created? Whence is its name derived? 
Bound it? What river has it source near Big Stone Lake? What is 
the principal town? What railroad passes through the county? 

BLUE EARTH COUKTY. 

1 . Blue Earth county was created in 1 853 by an act of the legis- 
lature, and takes its name from the river which flows through 
the county and joins the Minnesota river at Mankato. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Waseca and a small part of 
Le Sueur counties; on the west by Brown and Watonwan coun- 
ties ; on the north it is bounded by Le Sueur and Nicollet coun- 
ties, and separated from the latter by the Minnesota river and 
on the south by Martin and Faribault counties. 

3. The population by the last census was 22,889, of which 
5,873 were foreign born. 

4. Mankato, the name of its county seat, is a corruption 
and abbreviation of the Sioux sentence, u Mahkah to yuzapi 
wakpa" (River where- blue earth is obtained). 

5. It is pleasantly situated at the junction of the Blue 
Earth and Minnesota rivers. 

6. One of the State normal schools is here established, and 
it has churches of various denominations. 

7. The city is supplied with water by the Holly system. Its 
population in 1880 was 5,550. 

8. The Winona and St. Peter, and Chicago, St. Paul, Min- 
neapolis and Omaha railroads, and a branch of the Southern 
Minnesota railroad, pass through the county. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Blue earth couDty created? Whence is its name derived? 
Bound it? What is the county seat? Where is Mankato situated? 
What prominent educational institution is located here ? What rail- 
roads pass through the county ? 

BROWK COUNTY. 

1 . Brown county was created in 1856, and named after Jo- 
seph R. Brown, an early settler and Indian trader who had 
been a member of the council the year before. 



MINNESOTA. 13 

2. It is bounded on the east by Nicollet and Blue Earth 
counties; on the west by Redwood and Cottonwood counties; 
on the north by Redwood, Renville, and Nicollet counties; and 
on the south by Cottonwood and Watonwan counties. It is 
separated from Renville and Nicollet by the Minnesota river. 

3. The population is 12,018, of which 4,9' '9 were born in 
foreign lands. New Ulm is the county seat, with a population 
of 2,471 by the last census. It has good public schools, a Ro- 
man Catholic, German Lutheran, and German Methodist church. 

4. On the 15th of July, 1881, a cyclone destroyed nearly 
one hundred dwellings in fifteen minutes. 

5. The Winona and Saint Peter railroad, which passes 
through the county, has a station at New Ulm. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was the act passed creating Brown county ? For whom was it 
named? Bound it? What is the principal town? What disaster oc- 
curred here in the summer of 1881? What railroad passes through 
the county ? 

CARLTON COUNTY. 

1. Carlton county was formed in 1857, and was named after* 
a member of the first State legislature, R. B. Carlton. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Saint Louis county and the 
State of Wisconsin; on the west by Aitkin county; on the 
north by Saint Louis county; and on the south by Pine county. 

3. The Northern Pacific and the Saint Paul and Duluth 
railroads pass through this county. 

4. The population is only 1,230, and of these 1,100 are for- 
eign born. Thompson, the county seat, is the chief town. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Carlton county formed? For whom was it named? 
Bound it? What railroads pass through this county? 

CARVER COUNTY. 

1. Carver county was established in 1855, and named after 
Jonathan Carver, a captain of pro vine ial troops and the first 
British subject of whom we have any account who, in 1767 
passed the winter in the Minnesota valley. 

2. On the east it is bounded by Hennepin and Scott counties; 



14 GEOGEAPHY. 

on the west by McLeod and Sibley counties; on the north by 
Wright and Hennepin counties; and on the south by Sibley 
and Scott counties. 

3. Its population by the last census was 14,140, of whom 
there were 5,976 persons born in foreign lands. 

4. Chaska, the county seat, is a prosperous town, and is noted 
for its brick yards. About 10,000,000 of bricks are made annu- 
ally. Among other thriving towns are Carver and Watertown. 

5. The county is intersected by the Hastings and Dakota 
division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad; by 
the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad, and by the Benton 
branch of the Hastings and Dakota. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Carver county established? For whom was it named? 
Bound it? What is the county seat? For what is Chaska noted? 
What railroads intersect the county ? What river washes its southern 
border? 

CASS COUNTY. 

1. Cass county was established in 1857, and bears the name 
of the late General Lewis Cass, formerly Governor and United 
States senator from Michigan. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Aitkin and Itasca counties, 
and separated from the latter by the Mississippi river; on the 
west by Beltrami, Hubbard and Wadena; on the north by Bel- 
trami and Itasca counties; and on the south by Hubbard county. 

3. Near its centre is the third largest lake in the State, 
Leech Lake, which abounds in fish. 

4. This county is as yet unorganized; its population is 
small, and is chiefly occupied by those engaged in cutting pine. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Cass county established? For whom was it named? 
Bound it ? What large lake lies within its borders ? 

CHIPPEWA COUKTY. 

1. Chippewa county was established in 1862, and is named 
after the Ojibway tribe of Indians, which the English called 
Chippeweighs. 

2. On the east it is bounded by 'Kandiyohi and Renville 



MINNESOTA. 15 

counties; on the west by Lac qui Parle and Yellow Medicine, 
and separated therefrom by the Minnesota river; on the north 
by Swift county; and on the south by Renville and Yellow 
Medicine counties. 

3. The population in 1880 was 5,408, and 2,175 persons 
were born beyond the United States. 

4. The Hastings and Dakota division of the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul railroad passes through the county. 

5. Montevideo is the county seat and railway station, sit- 
uated on the Chippewa river, about a mile from its junction 
with the Minnesota river. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Chippewa county established? Whence is its name de- 
rived? Bound it? What railroad passes through the county ? What 
is the county seat? 

CHISAGO COUNTY. 

1. Chisago county was established in 1857, and its name is 
an abbreviation of the Ojibway word, Kechisago, signifying lake, 
and applies to the principal body of water within the county 
limits. 

2. On the east it is separated from the State of Wisconsin 
by the Saint Croix river; on the west it is bounded by Isanti 
and Anoka counties; on the north by Pine county; and on the 
south by Washington and Isanti counties. 

3. Its population by the last census was 7,982, about 
4,000 of whom were born beyond the United States of America, 
and are chiefly from Sweden. Centre City is the county seat, 
and is pleasantly situated on an elevated peninsula which juts 
into the beautiful Lake Chisago. Rush City and Taylor's Falls 
are prominent towns. 

4. The Saint Paul and Duluth railroad passes through the 
county, and there is a branch road from Wyoming to Taylor's 
Falls, and also a road from White Bear to Taylor's Falls. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Chisago county established ? Whence is its name de- 
rived? Bound it? Name some of the prominent towns? What rail- 
roads are laid in the county ? 



16 GEOGRAPHY. 

CLAY COUNTY. 

1. Clay county was established in 1862, and is named after 
the late Henry Clay, United States senator from Kentucky. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Becker and Otter Tail coun- 
ties; on the west by Dakota Territory, from which it is sepa- 
rated by the Red River of the North; on the north by Norman; 
and on the south by Wilkin and Otter Tail counties. 

• 3. Its population in 1880 was 5,886 ; and 2,707 persons were 
foreign born. 

4. The Northern Pacific railroad bisects the county by an 
east and west line, and the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Mani- 
toba passes northward through it, with a branch from Barnes- 
yille to Moorhead. 

5- Moorhead, the county seat 3 upon the Red River of the 
North, and connected by a bridge with Fargo, in Dakota Terri- 
tory, is a flourishing place. Glyndon and Barnesville are also 

important towns. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Clay county established? For whom was it named? 
How is it bounded ? What railroads furnish transportation for this 
county ? What is the county seat ? Name other important towns ? 
COOK COUNTY. 

1. Cook county is the extreme northeastern county of Min- 
nesota, and was named in honor of Major M. Cook, of the 10th 
Minnesota volunteers, who died in consequence of wounds re- 
ceived in the battle of Nashville. It was established in 1874, 
but has not been organized. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Lake Superior; on the west 
by Lake county; on the north by Pigeon river and the chain of 
lakes which separate it from the British possessions; aud on the 
south by Lake Superior. 

3 . The Grand Portage at the mouth of Pigeon river, during 
the French dominion, was a landing place for canoes filled with 
supplies for the inland fur trade, and during the latter part of 
the last century the Northwest company established a post there, 
known as Fort Charlotte. 

QUESTIONS. 
When was Cook county established? Where is it located? What 
is its civil condition ? Bound it ? What events of historic interest 
transpired in that vicinity ? 



MINNESOTA. 17 

COTTONWOOD COUNTY. 

1. Cottonwood county is in the southwestern part of the 
State, and was established in 1857. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Brown and Watonwan coun- 
ties; on the west by Murray county; on the north by Brown 
and lied wood counties; and on the south by Jackson county. 

3. The population by the last census was 5,533, and 2,507 
of the inhabitants were foreign born. 

4. Its county seat is Windom, which is the most popu- 
lous town in the county. 

5. Through the southeast corner of the county runs the 
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha railroad. A 

QUESTIONS. 
When was Cottonwood county established? In what portion of the 
State is it located? Bound it? What is the county seat? What 
railroad passes through the county ? 

DAKOTA COUNTY. 

1. Dakota county was established in 1849,and bears the name 
which the Sioux Indians call themselves, Dah-ko-tah, meaning 
the allied, or united. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Ramsey and Washington 
counties and the State of Wisconsin, and separated from them 
by the Mississippi river; on the west by Hennepin, Scott, and 
Rice counties; on the north by Ramsey and Hennepin counties; 
and on the south by Rice and Goodhue counties. 

3. The Vermillion river flow T s through the county, and enters 
the Mississippi at Hastings. 

4. The population by the last census was 17,391, and 5,130 
persons were foreign born. Hastings, its county seat, is a city 
of some importance^ and in 1880 had a population of about 
4,000 inhabitants. The next largest place is Farmington. 

5." The Hastings and Dakota division of the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and Saint Paul railroad runs from east to west through 
the county; the Iowa division of the same road, from south to 
north, and the river division crosses the southeastern part. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Dakota county established ? From whence is the name 
derived? What is the meaning of the word? Bound the county? 
Name the principal towns ? What railroads run through the county ? 



18 GEOGKAPHY. 

CROW WING COUNTY. 

1. Crow Wing county, in the northern and central por- 
tion of the State, in 1857 was established. It derives its 
name from the Crow Wing river, which the jib ways called 
Kagiwegeoon, Raven's Wing, and the French voyageurs Aile de 
Corbeau. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Aitkin and Mille Lacs coun- 
ties; on the west by Morrison and Cass counties, from which it is 
separated by the Mississippi river; on the north by Cass county; 
and on the south by Morrison county. 

3. Its population in 1880 was 2,318, and of this number 
719 were foreign born. 

4. Brainerd is the county seat, and at this point the North- 
ern Pacific railroad crosses the Mississippi river. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Crow Wing county established ? What is its position in 
the State? Whence is the name derived? Bound this county ? Name 
the principal town ? What railroad furnishes transportation facilities 
for tnis county ? 

% DOUGLAS COUNTY. 

1. Douglas county was established in 1858, and bears the 
name of the late Stephen A. Douglas, United States senator 
irom Illinois. 

2. It is in the western part of the State, and is bounded on 
the east by Todd county; on the west by Grant county; on the 
north by Otter Tail county; and on the south by Pope county. 

3. It abounds in beautiful lakes, and the Saint Paul, Minne- 
apolis and Manitoba railroad runs in a northwesterly direction 
through the county. 

4 Its population by the last census was 9,130, and 3,662 
persons were foreign born. 

5. Alexandria, its county seat, is pleasantly situated, and a 
thriving place. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Douglas county created? For whom was it named? 
What is its position in the State? Bound it? What railroad passes 
through it? Name the county seat? 



MINNESOTA. 1 9 

DODGE COUNTY. 

1. Dodge county was established in 1855, and named after 
Governor Dodge of Wisconsin, a commissioner who, in I837i 
made a treaty with the Chippeways at Fort Snelling. 

2. It is in the southeastern parfc of the State, and on the 
east is bounded by Olmsted county; on the west by Steele 
county; on the north by Goodhue county; and on the south by 
Mower county. 

3. The Winona and Saint Peter railroad passes through its 
center, from east to west. 

4. Its population in 1880 was 4,344, and of this number 
2,657 were foreign born. Mantorville is the county seat, but 
Kasson and Dodge Centre are the most populous towns. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Dodge county established? In what part of the State is 
it situated? Bound it? What railroad intersects it? What are the 
chief towns? 

FAKIBAULT COUNTY. 

1. Faribault county, established in 1855, was named after an 
Indian trader. 

2. It is one of the southernmost tier of counties. It is 
bounded on the east by Freeborn county; on the west by Mar- 
tin county; on the north by Blue Earth county; and on the 
south by the State of Iowa. 

3. The southern Minnesota division of the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul railroad passes through it from east to 
west, with stations at the towns of Wells and Winnebago City; 
and there is also a branch running north from Wells. 

4. The Northwestern railroad has a branch passing through 
the western part of the county. 

5. Blue Earth City is the county seat, and Wells and Win- 
nebago City are growing towns. 

6. The population of the county by the last census was 
13,015, and 3,141 persons were foreign born. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Faribault county created ? In what part of the State is 
it located ? Bound it ? What railroads pass through it ? Mention 
the chief towns? 



20 GEOGRAPHY. 

FILLMORE COUNTY. 

1 . Fillmore county was established in 1853, and is named after 
the late Millard Fillmore, once president of the United States. 

2. It is one of the southernmost tier of counties, and is 
bounded on the east by Houston county; on the west by Mower; 
on the north by Olmsted and Winona counties; and on the 
south by the State of Iowa. 

3. Its population in 1880 was 28,162, and 8,909 persons 
were born in foreign lands . 

4. The Southern Minnesota division of the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul railroad runs through it from east to west, 
and a branch runs from Caledonia Junction, in Houston county, 
to Preston. 

5. Preston is the county seat, and it has several thriving 

towns. Among others, Spring Valley, Kushford, and. Chatfield, 

the latter connected by a branch line with the Winona and St. 

Peter railroad. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Fillmore county established? In whose honor was it 
named ? What was its population in 1880 ? What railroads furnish 
transportation ? What is the county seat ? Name the principal towns ? 
FREEBORN" COUNTY. 

1 . Freeborn county was organized in 1855, and named after 
William Freeborn, an early settler in Minnesota, who for sev- 
eral years was a member of the Territorial legislature. 

2. It is one of the southernmost tier of counties, and is 
bounded on the east by Mower county; on the west by Fari- 
bault county; on the north by Waseca and Steele counties; 
and on the south by the State of Iowa. Its population in 1880 
was 16,069. of whom 5,876 were foreign born. 

3. Albert Lea is the county seat, and a pleasant city, situated 
near the lake of the same name, which is received from Albert 
Lea, a former officer of the United States army. 

4- The Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad, and the Southern 
Minnesota division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 
railroad pass through the town. 

QUESTIONS. 
When was Freeborn county organized? For whom is it named? 
Where is it located? What is the county seat? What railroads pass 
through the county ? 



MINNESOTA. 21 

GOODHUE COUNTY. 

1. Goodhue county was established in 1853, and bears the 
name of the first resident editor in Minnesota and the founder 
of the St. Paul Pioneer, James M. Goodhue. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Wabasha county and the 
State of Wisconsin; being separated from the latter by 
Lake Pepin and the Mississippi river; on the west by Dakota 
and Rice counties; on the north by Dakota county and the State of 
Wisconsin; and on the south by Dodge and Olmsted counties. 

3- The Cannon river, and the Eau Embarras of the Cana- 
dian voyageurs, now corrupted into Zumbro river, flow through 
the county. 

4- Its population, by the last census, is 29,651, and 12,501 
persons are foreign born. 

5. Red Wing, its county seat, had a population of 5,876, 
and is a growing city, beautifully situated near the head of Lake 
Pepin. Camion Falls, Pine Island, and Zumbrota are its largest 
villages. 

6. There is a railroad from Red Wing through the valley of 
the Cannon river, a branch of the river division of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad, to Zumbrota, and also a branch 
of the Winona and St. Peter railroad to the same place. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the date of the organization of Goodhue county? How is 
it bounded? What rivers flow through the county? Name the county 
seat? What railroads are laid in the county? 

GRANT COUNTY. 

1. Grant county was established in 1868, and named from 
U. S. Grant, then a general, and now ex-President of the United 
States. 

2. It is in the western portion of the State, and is bounded 
on the east by Douglas county; on the west by Traverse and 
Wilkin; on the north by Otter Tail; and on the south by 
Stevens county. 

3. One branch of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba 
railroad passes through its northeast corner, and another branch 
passes through the southwestern portion of the county. 



22 GEOGEAPHY. 

4. Its population in 18 bO was 3,004, and 1,300 of the in- 
habitants were foreign born. 

5- Its county seat is Elbow Lake. The other settlements of 
some importance are Pelican Lake, Herman, and Groton. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Grant county established? For whom was it named? 
Bound it? What railroads pass through it? Mention the county seat? 

HEKNEPIN" COUKTT. 

1. Hennepin county was established in 1852, and is named 
after Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest of the Roman Catho- 
lic church, who accompanied Michael Ako, the leader of an ex- 
pedition sent by La Salle to ascend the Mississippi. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Anoka and Ramsey coun- 
ties, from which it is mainly separated by the Mississippi river; 
on the west by Carver and Wright counties; on the north 
by Anoka and Wright counties; and on the south by Dakota, 
Scott, and Carver counties. 

3- It contains Lake Minnetonka, the fifth lake in size within 
the limits of Minnesota. Upon its waters float a number of 
steamboats during the summer, some of them capable of ac- 
commodating more than a thousand passengers. Large hotels 
have been erected on its picturesque banks, which in warm 
weather are filled with guests. 

4- Minnehaha Falls is on a creek, the outlet of Lake Min- 
netonka, and the Falls of St. Anthony is in the city of 
Minneapolis. 

5. The county, by the last census, was the most populous in 
the State, having 67,013 inhabitants, and of these 20,739 were 
foreign born. 

6- Minneapolis is the county seat, and the largest city in 
the State. In the year 1880 it had 46,887 inhabitants, and has 
since been rapidly increasing. It has numerous manufactories,, 
and the flour mills are noted for their excellence. The Pills- 
bury "A" and the Washburn "A" mills are said to be the largest 
in the world. 

7. More than 3,000,000 barrels of flour were shipped in 
1882, and about 200,000,000 feet of lumber. It is the seat of 



MINNESOTA. 5W 

the State University, and has an elegant high school building, 
with numerous public schools of lower grade. 

8- Fort Suellmg is in the vicinity of Minneapolis, and is one 
of the most important military posts in the United States. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Hennepin county organized? Whence is the name de- 
rived? How is it bounded? What important lake lies within its 
boundaries? What can you say of this lake? What falls are'located 
in the county? What can you tell of Minneapolis? What govern- 
ment post is located in this county ? 

HUBBARD COUNTY. 

1. Hubbard county was established by the legislature of 
1883. and named after Governor Lucius F. Hubbard. It was 
taken from the western portion of Cass county, and has not 
yet been organized. 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom was Hubbard county named ? From what county was 
it formed ? When established ? 

ISANTI COUNTY. 

1. Isanti county was established in 1857. Issati, or Isanya- 
tis, was a name given by the Sioux to a division of the tribe who 
once lived at Isantamde, Knife Lake, one of the Mille Lacs. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Chisago county; on the 
west by Mille Lacs and Sherburne counties; on the north by 
Chisago and Kanabec ; and on the south by Anoka county. 

3. The Rum river flows through it from north to south. 
The Sioux called it the Spirit, or Supernatural river, and it is 
supposed that ignorant traders thought that the word Spirit, re- 
ferred to intoxicating liquor, and therefore called the stream 
Rum river. 

4. The population of the county was 5,063, and 7,693 were 
foreign born. Cambridge is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

Origin of the name Isanti? Bound Isanti county? Its principal 
river? Supposed origin of the name, Rum? Its population state? 

ITASCA COUNTY. 

1. Itasca countv was formed in 1849, but has never been 



24 GEOGRAPHY. 

organized. It is named Itasca from a word made by Schoolcraft 
in 1832, from the last two syllables of the Latin word Veritas, 
and the first syllable of caput, and given by him to Itasca Lake. 
2. It is bounded on the east by Saint Louis county; on the 
west by Beltrami county ; on the north by the British posses- 
sions, from which it is separated by Rainy Lake and Rainy 
Lake River; and on the south by Cass county, from which it is 
separated by the Mississippi river. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Itasca county established? Who made the name? Give 
the boundaries ? 

HOUSTON COUNTY. 

1. Houston is the extreme southeastern county of the 
State, and in 1854 was established. It was named in honor of 
Governor Samuel Houston, of Texas. 

2. It is bounded on the east by the Mississippi river, which 
separates it from the State of Wisconsin; on the west by Fill- 
more county; on the north by Winona county; and on the 
south by the State of Iowa. 

3. Hokah, or Root river, flows through the county into the 
Mississippi. Its population in 1880 was 16,332, and 5,950 per- 
sons were foreign born. 

4. Caledonia is the county seat; Brownsville, Hokah, and 
Houston are among the largest towns. 

5. A division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul rail- 
road passes through the county southward from La Crescent, 
and a branch westward through Caledonia. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where is Houston county situated ? In whose honor was it named ? 
Bound it ? Name the principal towns ? What railroads pass through 
the county ? 

JACKSON COUNTY. 

1. Jackson county was established in 1857, and is in the 
southwestern portion of the State. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Martin county ; on the west 
by Nobles county; on the north by Cottonwood; and on the south 
by the State of Iowa. 



MINNESOTA. 25 

B. A branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul rail- 
road, and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha, pass 
through the county. 

4. The Des Moines river flows through into the State of 
Iowa, 

5. The population, by the last census, was 4,806, and 1,886 
were foreign born. Jackson is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Jackson county established? Give its boundaries? Its 
principal towns? The railroads which run through the county? Pop 
ulation by last census ? Mention the county seat ? 

KANABEC COUNTY. 

1. Kanabec county was established in 1858, and is an 
Ojibway word, Kinaibik, meaning snake, and applied to Snake 
river, the principal stream in the county. 

2. It is in the northeastern portion of the State, and is 
bounded on the east by Pine county; on the west by Mille Lacs 
comity; on the north by Aitkin county; and on the south by 
Isanti county. 

3. It abounds in pine forests. Snake river passes through it, 
and about the center is Knife Lake. Its population is very 
small, and Brunswick is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

From what Indian language is Kanabec? Give the boundaries of 
the county? Its principal river ? Mention its chief lake? 

KANDIYOHI COUNTY. 

1. Kandiyohi county was established in 1858, and is in the 
central part of the State. 

2. The word Kandi, in the Sioux language, signifies buffalo 
fish, and the lake of that name was called Kandiyohi. 

3. It is bounded on the east by Meeker and Stearns coun- 
ties; on the west by Swift and Chippewa counties; on the north 
by Pope and Stearns counties; and on the south by Renville 
county. 

4. It abounds in lakes, and the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and 
Manitoba railroad passes through it from east to west. 



26 GEOGRAPHY. 

5- Its population was 10,159, and 4,942 were foreign born. 
Willmar is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

From what Indian language is Kandiyohi taken ? Give the boundaries? 
"What railroad passes through ? Give the number of inhabitants ? 
Mention the county seat ? 

KITTSON" COUNTY. 

1 . Kittson county is in the extreme northwestern corner of 
the State, was established in 1877, and bears the name of Nor- 
man W. Kittson, for years engaged in trading with the Indians. 

2- It is bounded on the east by Beltrami county; on the 
west by Dakota Territory, from which it is separated by the 
Red River of the North; on the north by Manitoba; and on 
the south by Marshall county. 

3- The St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad passes 
through it. 

4. The population is 905 and Halleck is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom is Kittson county named? Give the boundaries? Men- 
tion the railroad through it? 

LAC QUI PARLE COUNTY. 

1. Lac qui Parle county was established in 1871. It is 
named after its principal lake, which the Sioux Indians called 
Mendaea, and the early French voyageurs called Lac qui Parle, 
the lake that talks, or echo lake. It is one of the western tier 
of counties. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Swift county and Chip- 
pewa county, and separated therefrom by the Minnesota 
river; on the west by Dakota Territory; on the north by Big 
Stone and Swift counties; and on the south by Yellow Medi- 
cine county. 

3. A mission was established at Lac qui Parle in 1835, among 
the Sioux, by the Rev. T. S. Williamson, M. D., a Presbyterian 
missionary. 



MINNESOTA. 27 

4. The population of the county was 4.907, and 2,597 were 
foreign born. The county seat is the town of Lac qui Parle. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Lac qui Parle county established? From what language 
its name? Give the boundaries ? When and by whom was the first 
Indian mission established ? Mention the number of inhabitants ? 

LAKE COUNTY. 

1. Lake county was established in 1857, and so called be- 
cause it borders on Lake Superior. 

2- It is bounded on the east by Cook county and Lake Su- 
perior; on the west by St. Louis county; on the north by the 
British possessions; and on the south by Lake Superior. Its 
population is very small. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Lake county established? Give its boundaries? 

LE SUEUR COUNTY. 

1. Le Sueur county was established in 1853, and is named 
for Pierre Le Sueur, the first explorer of the Minnesota river. 

2. tt is bounded on the east by Rice county; on the west by 
Sibley and Nicollet counties; on the north by Scott county; 
and on the south by Blue Earth and Waseca counties. 

3. The Minneapolis and Saint Louis railroad traverses the 
eastern portion of the county, and the Chicago, Minneapolis, 
Sioux City and Omaha the western portion. 

4. Its population by the last census was 16,104, and 4,790 
were foreign born. 

5. Le Sueur Centre is the county seat, but the largest village 
is Le Sueur. 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom was Le Sueur county named? Give its boundaries? 
What railroads traverse it? Mention the population? What is the 
largest village? 

LINCOLN COUNTY. 

1. Lincoln county was established in 1873, and bears the 
name of Abraham Lincoln, who was President of the United 
States. 



28 GEOGRAPHY. 

2- It is one of the western tier of counties, and is bounded 
on the east by Lyon county; on the west by Dakota Territory; 
on the north by Yellow Medicine county; and on the south by 
Pipestone county. 

3. A branch of the Winona and Saint Peter railroad traverses 
its southern portion. 

4. Its population was 2.945, and 1,069 were foreign born. 
Its county seat is Marshfield. 

QUESTIONS. 

Why called Lincoln county, and when established? Mention the 
boundaries ? Give the population ? The name of its county seat ? 

\ 
LYON COUNTY. 

1. Lyon county was established in 1869, and bears the name 
of Oneral Nathaniel Lyon, a brave Union officer who fell in 
battle at Wilson's creek, Missouri. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Redwood county; on the west 
by Lincoln county; on the north by Yellow Medicine county; 
and on the south by Murray county. 

3. It is traversed by branches of the Winona and Saint 
Peter railroad. 

4. Its population was 6,257, and 1,699 were foreign born. 
Its county seat is Marshall. 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom is Lyon county named ? Its boundaries? Its popula- 
tion ? Its county seat ? 

MAESHALL COUNTY. 

1. Marshall county was established in 1879, and named after 
William R. Marshall, who was Governor of Minnesota. 

2. It is in the northwestern portion of the State, and is 
bounded on the east by Beltrami county; on the west by Dakota 
Territory, from which it is separated by the Red River of the 
North; on the north by Kittson county; and on the south by 
Polk county. 

3. It is traversed by a division of the St. Paul, Minneapolis 
and Manitoba railroad. 



MINNESOTA. 29 

4. Its population was 992, and 468 were foreign born. Its 
county seat is Warner. 

QUESTIONS. 

From whom does this county receive its name? Give its boundaries? 
What railroad traverses it ? Its population ? Its county seat ? 

MARTIN COUNTY. 

1. Martin county was established in 1857. It is one of the 
southernmost tier of counties, and on the east is bounded by 
Faribault county ; on the west by Jackson county ; on the north 
by Watonwan and Blue Earth counties; and on the south by 
the State of Iowa. 

2. It is traversed by the southern division of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee and Saint Paul railroad. 

3. Its population was 5,249, and 1,004 were foreign born. 
Its county seat is Fairmount. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Martin county established? Give its boundaries? By 
what railroad is it traversed ? Its population ? Its county seat ? 

mc'leod county. 

1 . McLeod county was established in 1856, and was named 
after an Indian trader, Martin McLeod. 

2. It is a central county, and bounded on the east by Carver 
county; on the west by Meeker and Renville counties; on the. 
north by Meeker and Wright counties; and on the south by 
Sibley county. 

3. The Hastings and Dakota, a division of the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and Saint Paul railroad, passes through from east to west. 

4. Its population was 12,343, and 4,633 were foreign born. 

5. Grlencoe is the county seat, and Hutchinson is a large and 
pleasant village. . 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom was McLeod county named? Give the boundaries? 
What railroad passes through it ? Mention its population ? What are 
its principal towns? 

MEEKER COUNTY. 

1, Meeker county was established in 1856, and bears the 
name of Bradley B. Meeker, one of the first territorial judges. 



30 



GEOGRAPHY. 



2. It is bounded on the east by Wright county; on the 
west by Kandiyohi; on the north by Stearns; and on the south, 
by McLeod and Renville counties. 

3. It has many lakes, and the north branch of Crow river 
flows through it. 

4. A division of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba rail- 
road crosses it from east to west. 

5- Its population was 11,739, and 4,172 were foreign born. 
Its county seat is Litchfield. 

QUESTIONS. 

Why called Meeker county? Give the boundaries? What is the 
population? What railroad runs through it? Mention the county 
seat ? 

MILLE LACS COUNTY. 

1. Mille Lacs county, established in 1858, receives the name 
from the principal lake. 

2. The Rum river flows through it, and the county abounds 
in pine forests. 

3. It is bounded on the east by Kanabec and Isanti coun- 
ties ; on the west by Crow Wing, Morrison, and Benton 
counties; on the north by Aitkin county; and on the south by 
Sherburne county. 

4. Its population was 1,501, and 252 were foreign born.' 
Princeton is its county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

Why called Mille Lacs county? What river flows through it? 
Give the boundaries ? 

MORRISON" COUNTY. 

1. Morrison county was established in 1858, and is named 
from one of the old Indian traders of the Upper Mississippi. 

2. The Mississippi river flows through it, and it is bounded 
on the east by Mille Lacs county; on the west by Todd county; 
on the north by Crow Wing county; and on the south by 
Stearns and Benton counties. 

3- Its population was 5,875, and 2,146 were foreign born. 
Little Falls is its county seat. 



MINNESOTA. 31 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom is Morrison county named? What river flows through it? 
Give its boundaries ? What is the population ? Mention the county- 
seat? 

MOWER COUNTY. 

1. Mower county was established in 1855, and named after 
John E. Mower, who had been a member of the legislature. 

2. It is one of the southernmost tier of counties, and is 
hounded on the east by Fillmore county; on the west by Free- 
born county; on the north by Dodge and Olmsted counties; 
and on the south by the State of Iowa. 

3. Several branches of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. 
Paul railroad pass through it. 

4. Its population was 16,796, and 4,935 were foreign born. 
Austin is its county seat, and a town of importance. 

QUESTIONS. 
After whom is Mower county named? Give its boundaries? What 
railroads pass through it ? Give its population ? Mention its county 
seat. 

MURRAY COUNTY. 

1. Murray county was established in 1857 and bears the 
name of William P. Murray, a lawyer and old citizen of St. 
Paul. 

2- It is in the southwestern part of the State, and is bound- 
ed on the east by Cottonwood county; on the west by Pipe 
Stone count}^; on the north by Lyon and Redwood counties; 
and on the south by Nobles county. 

3. Lake Shetek is its largest lake, and one of the sources of 
the Des Moines river. \ 

4. It is traversed by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and 
Omaha, and by a branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 

railroad. 

5. Its population was 3,601, and 1,207 were foreign born. 
Currie is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom is Murray county named? What are its boundaries? 
What is said of its principal lake? What railroads pass through it? 
What is its population? Mention the county seat? 



32 GEOGEAPHY. 

NICOLLET COUNTY. 

1. Nicollet county, established in. 1853, was named from the 
French astronomer J. N. Nicollet, who explored the Minnesota 
river, in the employ of the United States. 

2. It is situated at the great bend of the Mississippi river* 
and is bounded on the east by Le Sueur and Blue Earth 
counties, and separated therefrom by the Minnesota river; on 
the west by Blue Earth and Brown counties; on the north by 
Sibley, and a small portion of Renville counties ; and on the south 
by Brown and Blue Earth counties. 

3. It is traversed by the Winona and St. Peter railroad. Its 
population was 12,333, and 5,185 were foreign. 

4. Saint Peter is the county seat, and here is the first and 
largest State Insane Asylum, and Gustavus Adolphus College, a 
Lutheran institution. 

5. At Traverse des Sioux, in 1843, the Rev. S. R. Riggs 
established a Presbyterian mission among the Sioux. 

6. Fort Ridgely, completed by the United States in 1854, 
is in the northwestern corner of the county, in August, 1862, 
was beseiged by the Sioux. 

QUESTIONS. 
After whom was Nicollet county named? Where is it situated? 
Give its boundaries ? What institutions at its county seat ? What is 
said of Traverse des Sioux ? When was Fort Ridgely built ? By whom 
was it beseiged? 

NOBLES COUNTY. 

1. Nobles count) r was established in 1857, and named after 
William H. Nobles, one of the early settlers of St. Paul. 

2. It is in the extreme southwestern part of the State, and 
is bounded on the east by Jackson county; on the west by 
Rock county, on the north by Murray county; and on the 
south by the State of Iowa. 

3. It is traversed by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and 
Omaha railroad. 

4- Its population was 4,435, and 1,051 were foreign born. 
Worthington is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 
From whom does Nobles county obtain its name ? Give its bound- 
aries ? Its population ? Mention the county seat ? 



MINNESOTA. 33 

NORMAN COUNTY. 

1. Norman County was established in 1881, and bears one 
of the baptismal names of Norman W. Kittson, who traded 
with the Indians in this region. 

2. It is in the northwestern part of the State, and is bound- 
ed on the east by Beltrami county; on the west by Dakota 
Territory, from which it- is separated by the Red River of the 
North; on the north by Polk County; and on the south by 
Clay and Becker counties. Ada is the county seat. 

3. It is traversed by the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba 
Railroad, and has as yet a small population . 

QUESTIONS. 

From whom does Norman county derive its name? Give its bound- 
aries. 

OLMSTED COUNTY. 

1. Olmsted county was established in 1855, and was called 
after David Olmsted, the President of the oouncil in the first 
Legislature, that convened in September, 1849, at St. Paul. 

2. It is in the southeastern part of the State, and bounded on 
the east by Winona county; on the west by Dodge county; on 
the north by Goodhue and Wabasha counties; and on the south 
by Mower and Fillmore counties. 

3. Root river flows through the southern part of the county, 
and branches of the Winona and St. Peter railroad pass through it. 
The population is 21,543, and 4,681 are foreign born. 

4. Rochester is the county seat, and is a city of growing im- 
portance, having, by the last census, a population of more than 
5,000 persons. Here the State has its second Asylum for the 
Insane. 

QUESTIONS. 

Why called Olmsted county? Give its boundaries? What river 
flows through it? Mention the number of inhabitants? What is said 
of the county seat? 

OTTER TAIL COUNTY. 

1. Otter Tail county was established in 1858, and is named 

after its principal lake. 
3 



34 GEOGRAPHY. 

2. It is in the western portion of the State, and is bounded 
on the east by Wadena and Todd counties; on the west by 
Clay and Wilkin counties; on the north by Clay and Becker 
counties; and on the south by Grant and Douglas counties. No 
county contains so many pleasant lakes. 

3- The Northern Pacific railroad passes through the north- 
western part, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba 
through the southwestern portion of the county. 

4. Fergus Falls is the county seat and is of increasing im- 
portance. It is surrounded by valuable water powers, and is the 
center of a good agricultural country. 

5. The population of the county by the last census numbers 
18,804, and of these 7,429 are foreign born. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where is Otter Tail county? Give the boundaries? What railroads 
traverse it ? What is said of Fergus Falls ? How many inhabitants in 
the county ? 

PINE COUNTY. 

1. Pine county was established in 1856, and so named because 
it was covered with pine forests. 

2- It is a northeastern county, and is bounded on the east by 
the State of Wisconsin, from which it is partly separated by the 
Saint Croix river; on the west by Aitkin and Kanabec counties; 
on the north by Carlton county; and on the south by Chisago 
county and the State of Wisconsin. 

3. The St. Paul and Duluth railroad passes through it. 

4. The population is 1,365, and 458 are foreign born. Pine 
City is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

Give the boundaries of Pine county? What railroad passes through 
it? Mention the county seat? 

PIPE STONE COUNTY. 

1. Pipe Stone county was established in 1857, and named be- 
cause of the red pipe stone quarry from which the Sioux obtained 
stone for pipes. 

2. It is in the extreme southwestern portion of the State, 
and on the east is bounded by Murray county; on the west by 



MINNESOTA. 35 

Dakota Territory; the north by Lincoln county; and on the 
south by Rock county. 

3. A division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad 
passes through it. 

4. The population is 2,091, and 343 are foreign born. 
Pipe Stone City is its county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

Why called Pipe Stone county? Give its boundaries? 

POLK COUNTY. 

1. Polk county was established in 1858, and is named from 
James K. Polk, once President of the United States. 

2. It is a northwestern county, and is bounded on the east 
by Beltrami county; on the west by Dakota Territory, from 
which it is separated by the Red River of the North ; on the 
north by Marshall county; and on the south by Norman county. 

8. The St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad passes 
through it. Its principal stream is Red Lake river, which flows 
into the Red River of the North, 

4. The population is 11,248, and of them 5,717 are foreign 
born. Crookston is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

Polk county, why thus named? Give the boundaries? What is the 
principal river ? Mention the county seat ? 

POPE COUNTY. 

1. Pope county was established in 1862, and is named after 
General John Pope, of the United States Army. 

2. It is a western county, bounded on the east by Stearns 
county; on the west by Stevens county; on the north by Douglas 
county; and on the south by Swift and Kandiyohi counties. 

3. The population is 5,874, of which 2,582 are foreign 
born. Glenwood is its county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

After whom is Polk caunty called? Give its boundaries? Its pop- 
ulation? Mention the countv seat? 



36 GEOGRAPHY. 

RAMSEY COUNTY. 

1. Ramsey county was established in 1849, and is named after 
Alexander Ramsey, the first Governor of Minnesota, appointed 
by the President of the United States. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Washington county; on the 
west by Hennepin county, and separated therefrom by the Mis- 
sissippi river; on the north by Anoka and Washington counties; 
and on the south by Dakota county, from which it is separated 
by the Mississippi river, with the exception of the Sixth ward 
of the city of St. Paul, and Washington county. 

3- White Bear Lake, in the extreme northeastern part of the 
county, about three miles in diameter and with picturesque sur- 
roundings, is a place of summer resort. 

4- The population of the county by the last census was 
45,9l5, and 15,584 were foreign born. 

5. St. Paul is the county seat, and also the Capital of Minne- 
sota. By the last census it contained 41,498 persons; it has 
had a rapid yearly increase, is a prominent railroad center, 
and the practicable head of navigation for steamboats. 

6. The new Capitol, just completed, and the United States- 
building for the United States courts, Post-office, and other 
offices, are fine edifices. 

7. It has an efficient system of public schools, and a large- 
building for the High School has been erected. 

8. The site of Macalester College, an institution urde-r 
Presbyterian trustees, incorporated in 1853, and Hamline Uni- 
versity under Methodist control, incorporated in 1854, are in the 
western suburbs, near the limits of Minneapolis. 

9. Between the grounds of these colleges, and about a half 
mile distant from the latter, is the State Reform School. 

QUESTIONS. 
After whom was Ramsey county named ? When was it established ? 
Give its boundaries. What is said of St. Paul ? Give its population 
by the last census. What are the prominent public buildings in the 
city ? What institutions in the suburbs ? 

BEDWOOD COUKTY. 

1. Redwood county was established in 1865, and took its 
name from a stream which flows through it, whose banks con- 
tained many red cedar trees, called by the Sioux, Redwood. 



MINNESOTA. 37 

2. It is bounded on the east by Brown and Renville connties, 
separated from the latter by the Minnesota river; on the west 
by Lyon county; on the north by Renville and Yellow Medicine 
counties; and on the south by Murray and Cottonwood counties. 

3. The Winona and St. Peter railroad passes through the 
southern portion of it. 

4. Its population is 5,375, and 1,608 are foreign born. 

5- Redwood Falls is the county seat. It was at a place now 
called Sherman, once the Lower Sioux agency, where, in August, 
1862, the outbreak of the Sioux Indians began. At Birch 
Coolie, on the 2d of September, 1862, the whites had a sharp 
battle with the Sioux Indians. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Redwood county established? Why so named? Give its 
boundaries. What railroad passes through? Mention the county seat. 
What events of historic interest occurred in this county ? 

KENVILLE COUNTY. 

1. Renville county was established in 1855, and bears the 
name of Joseph Renville, who was a noted Indian trader. 

2. It is bounded on the east by McLeod and Sibley counties ; 
on the west by Yellow Medicine and Redwood counties, separated 
therefrom by the Minnesota river; on the north by Chippewa, 
Kandiyohi, and Meeker counties; and on the south by Redwood 
and Brown counties. 

3- A division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad 
passes through the county. 

4. Its population is 10,791, and 4,235 are foreign born. 

5. Beaver Falls is the county seat, and among the railroad 
stations ars the villages of Bird Island and Renville. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Kenville county established ? Whose name does it bear ? 
Give its boundaries? What railroad passes through? Mention the 
county seat, 

KICB COUNTY. 

1. Rice county was established in 1854, and bears the name 
of Henry M. Rice, the first United States Senator from Minne- 
sota, for a term of six years. 



38 GEOGEAPHY. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Goodhue county; on the west 
by Le Sueur; on the north by Scott and Dakota counties; and 
on the south by Waseca and Steele counties. 

3. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad runs through 
the county, with a branch to Cannon Falls. 

4. The population was 22,480, and 6,789 were foreign born. 
5- Faribault is the county seat, and a growing city, having 

5,415 inhabitants by the last census. There are situated State 
institutions for the deaf and dumb, the blind, and the feeble 
minded; also a boys' school, a girls 1 seminary, and divinity school 
of the Protestant Episcopal church. 

6. Northfield is the next largest place in the county, and 
here are Carleton college, supported by Congregationalists, and a 
Lutheran seminary. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Rice county established ? "Whose name does it bear ? Give 
its boundaries? What railroads pass through? Mention the county 
seat ? What institutions at Faribault ? What institutions at Northfield ? 

ROCK COUNTY. 

1. Rock county is in the southwest corner of the State, and 
in 1857, was established. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Nobles county; on the west 
by Dakota Territory; on the north by Pipe Stone county; and 
on the south by the State of Iowa. 

3. A branch of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha 
railroad passes through it. 

4. Its population is 3,669, and 1,015 are foreign born. Lu 
Yerne is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Rock county established? Give its boundaries? What 
railroad passes through ? Mention the county seat. 

SAINT LOUIS COUNTY. 

1. Saint Louis county was established in 1856, and is named 
from the Saint Louis river, which is supposed to have received 
its name from the French, who desired to compliment Louis 
Buade, known as Count Frontenac, Governor of Canada. 



MINNESOTA. 39 

2. It is one of the northeastern counties, and is hounded on 
the east by Lake county and Lake Superior; on the west by 
Aitkin and Itasca counties; on the north by British possessions, 
separated by a chain of lakes; on the south by Carlton county, 
the State of Wisconsin, and Lake Superior. It contains valuable 
iron deposits. The Saint Paul and Duluth railroad enters the 
county, and others are being constructed. 

3. Its population is 4,504, and 1,986 are foreign born. 

4. Duluth is the county seat, an important depot for 

coal and grain, and the terminus of steamboat lines from Chicago 

and Buffalo. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Saint Louis county established? What is the supposed 
origin of the name of St. Louis river? Give the boundaries. What 
ore is abundant? What railroad passes through? Mention the county 

seat. 

SCOTT COUNTY. 

1. Scott county was established in 1858, and is named after 
General Winfield Scott, of the United States Army. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Dakota county; on the west 
by Carver and Sibley counties, separated therefrom by the Min- 
nesota river; on the north by Carver and Hennepin, separated 
therefrom by the same river; and on the south by Rice and Le 
Sueur counties. 

3. It is traversed by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and 
Omaha, the Minneapolis and St. Louis, and the Dakota division of 
the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroads. 

4- Its population is 13,51 6, and 4,861 are foreign born. 
Shakopee is its county seat. The next largest places are Jordan 
and Belle Plaine. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Scott county established? After whom was it named? 
Give the boundaries ? What railroads traverse it ? Mention the county , 
seat? 

SHERBURNE COUNTY. 

1. Sherburne county was established in 1856, and was named 
after Moses Sherburne, one of the Territorial Judges. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Anoka and Isanti counties; 
on the west by Stearns and Wright counties, separated there- 



40 GEOGRAPHY. 

from by the Mississippi river; on the north by Mille Lacs and 
Benton counties; and on the south by Wright county. 

3- The St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad passes 
through it. 

4. The population is 3,855, and 980 are foreign born. Elk 
River is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Sherburne county established ? After whom was it named ? 
Give the boundaries? What railroad passes through? Mention the 
county seat ? 

SIBLEY COUNTY. 

1. Sibley county was established in 1853, and is named after 
Henry H. Sibley, the first Minnesota delegate in Congress. 

2- It is bounded on the east by Scott and Le Sueur counties, 
from which it is separated by the Minnesota river; on the west by 
Renville county; on the north by Renville, McLeod, and Carver 
counties; and on the south by Nicollet county. 

3. A. branch of the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad passes 
through the county. 

4- The population is 10,637, and 4,009 are foreign born. 
Henderson is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Sibley county established? After whom named? Give 
its boundaries ? What railroad passes through ? Mention the county 
seat? 

STEARNS COUNTY. 

1. Stearns county, in 1855, was established. The Legisla- 
ture intended to call this county after Col. Isaac J. Stevens, of the 
United States Army, and the house committee on enrolled bills 
reported that it was correctly enrolled Stevens, but when signed 
by the Governor, the Act read Stearns county, and it is said to 
have been altered to please a member of the council whose name 
was Charles T. Stearnes, not Stearns. 

2- It is bounded on the east by Benton and Sherburne 
counties, separated therefrom by the Mississippi river; on the 
west by Pope and Kandiyohi counties; on the north by Todd 
and Morrison counties; and on the south by Wright, Meeker, and 
Kandiyohi counties. 



MINNESOTA. 41 

3. Sauk river flows through the county into the Mississippi. 
The St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad runs through it 
from St. Cloud, and a branch southeasterly from the same point. 

4. The population is 21,956, and 7,131 are foreign born. 

5. Saint Cloud, the county seat, is an important place. Here 
is established one of the State Normal Schools. Sauk Centre is 
a growing village. St. John's college, under the Benedictine 
order of the Roman Catholic church, is a prosperous institution, 
in this county. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Stearns county established? Mention how it received its 
name? Give its boundaries? What railroads pass through? Mention 
the county seat? What educational institutions in the county? 

STEELE COUNTY. 

1. Steele county was established in 1855, and is named after 
the late Franklin Steele, for years sutler at Fort Snelling. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Dodge counnty; on the west 
by Waseca county; on the north by Rice county; and on the 
south by Freeborn county. 

3. The Winona and St. Peter railroad passes through the 
county from east to west; and a division of the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul from south to north, intersecting at Owa- 
tonna. 

4. The population is L2,460, and 3,884 are foreign born. 

5. Owatonna is the county seat, and a busy place. Here is an 
Academy under the auspices of the Baptist Church. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Steele county established? After whom was it named? 
Give its boundaries. What railroads pass through? Mention the 
county seat. What institution at Owatonna? 

STEVEN'S COUNTY. 

1. Sfcevens county was established in 1860, and was named 
after John H. Sfcevens, one of the earliest residents of Minnesota. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Pope county; on the west by 
Traverse and Big Stone counties; on the north by Grant county; 
and on the south by Big Stone and Swift counties. 

3. The St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad passes 
through it. 



42 GEOGRAPHY. 

4. Its population is 3,911, and 1,247 are foreign born. 
Morris, the county seat, is a thriving town. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Stevens county established ? After whom is it named ? 
Give the boundaries? What railroad passes through? Mention the 
county seat? 

SWIFT COUKTY. 

1. Swift county was established in 1870, and named after 
Henry A. Swift, who became Governor, in consequence of a 
vacancy. 

2- It is bounded on the east by Kandiyohi county; on the 
west by Big Stone and Lac qui Parle counties; on the north by 
Stevens and Pope counties; and on the south by Chippewa and 
Lac qui Parle counties. 

3. A division of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba rail- 
road passes diagonally through it. 

4- Its population is 7,473, and 3,081 are foreign born. 
Benton is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Swift county established ? After whom was it named ? 
Give the boundaries ? What railroad passes through ? Mention the 
county seat? 

TODD COUNTY, 

1. Todd county was established in 1862, and named after 
John Blair Smith Todd, who had been a Captain in the United 
States Armv, stationed at Port Ripley. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Morrison county; on the 
west by Douglas and Otter Tail counties; on the north by 
Wadena county; and on the south adjoins Stearns county. 

3. The Long Prairie river flows through it. The St. Paul t 
Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad runs across the southwestern 
corner. 

4. Its population is 6,133, and 1,435 are foreign born. 
Long Prairie is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 
When was Todd county established? After whom was it called? 
Give its boundaries? What railroad passes through? Mention tha 
county seat? 



MINNESOTA. 43 

TRAVERSE COUNTY. 

1. Traverse county was established in 1862, and named from 
the lake which forms a portion of the western boundary of the 
State. Its population in 1880 was J, 503. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Grant and Stevens county; 
on the west by Dakota Territory, and separated therefrom by 
Lake Traverse and the Red river; on the north by Wilkin 
county; and on the south by Big Stone county. 

3. Mandada is the county seat, and a division of the St. 
Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad passes across its north- 
eastern corner. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Traverse county established ? After whom was it named ? 
Give the bouudaries ? What railroad passes through ? 

WABASHA COUNTY. 

1. Wabasha county was established in 1869, and was 
named after Wapashaw,a celebrated Sioux chief. 

2. -it is one of the southeastern counties, and is bounded on 
the east by the State of Wisconsin, and separated therefrom by 
Lake Pepin and the Mississippi river; on the west by Goodhue 
county; on the north by Goodhue county and Lake Pepin; and 
on the south by Olmsted and Winona counties. 

3. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad passes through 
from south to north, with a branch west to Zumbrota; and the 
W T inona and Ct. Peter railroad has a branch which passes through 
Plainview and Elgin in the lower part of the county. 

4. Its population is 18,206, and 4,911 are foreign born. 

5. Wabasha is the county seat, and Lake City is a most 
important town 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Wabasha county established? After whom was it named? 
Give its boundaries? What railroads pass through? Mention the 
county seat ? What is said of Lake City ? 

WADENA COUNTY. 

1. Wadena county was established in 1858, and the word is 
from the Sioux or Dakotah language. 



44 GEOGKAPHY. 

2. It is a northern county, and is bounded on the east by Cass 
county; on the west by Becker and Otter Tail counties; on the 
north by Hubbard county; and on the south by Todd county. 

3. The Northern Pacific railroad crosses its southwestern 
corner. Its population is 2,080, and 334 are foreign born 
Its county seat is Wadena. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Wadena county established ? From what language is the 
word derived? Give its boundaries? What railroad crosses it ? Men- 
tion the county seat ? 

WASECA COUNTY. 

1. Waseca county was established in 1859; the word from 
which it is named is from the Sioux language, and means rich 
in food. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Steele county; on the west 
by Blue Earth county; on the north by Rice and Le Sueur coun- 
ties; and on the south by Faribault and Freeborn counties. 

3. It contains a number of lakes, and the Le Sueur river, a 
tributary of the Blue Earth, flows through it. 

4. The Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad passes through its, 
eastern portion; and the Winona and Saint Peter railroad from 
east to west. 

5. Its population is 12,385, and 3,091 are foreign born. 

6. Waseca is the county seat, and Janesville and New Rich- 
land are thriving villages. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Waseca county established ? What does the word signify ? 
Give its boundaries? What railroads pass through? Mention the 
county seat? 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

1. Washington county was establised in 1849, and named 
after the father of the Republic. 

2. It is bounded on the east by the State of Wisconsin, and 
separated therefrom by Lake St. Croix and the river of the same 
name; on the west by Anoka and Ramsey counties, and a point 
of Dakota from which it is separated by the Mississippi river; on 
the north by Chisago county; and on the south by Dakota 
county. 



MINNESOTA. 45 

3. The St. Paul and Duluth railroad, the Chicago, St. Paul r 
Minneapolis and Omaha, and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. 
Paul roads pass through the county. 

4- The population is 19,562, and 9,673 are foreign born. 

5. Stillwater is the county seat, and by the last census, was 
the fourth city in population in the State. It has a bold pictur- 
esque situation on the shores of Lake Saint Croix. 

6. Here the State penitentiary is established and large car 
works. Agricultural implements are also manufactured, and it 
has several saw mills of great capacity. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Washington county established? After whom was it 
named ? Give its boundaries ? What railroads pass through ? What 
is said of the county seat? 

WATONWAN COUNTY. 

1. Watonwan county was established in 1860, and its name 
is derived from the Sioux language. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Blue Earth county; on the 
west by Cottonwood county; on the north by Brown county; 
and on the south by Martin county. 

3. The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha railroad 
passes through it. 

4- Its population is 5,104, and 2,065 are foreign born.. 
Saint James is the county seat, and Madelia is a prosperous 
village. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Watonwan county established? Give its boundaries? 
What railroad passes through ? Mention the county seat ? 

WILKIN COUNTY. 

1 . Wilkin county was established in 1868, and bears the 
name of Alexander Wilkin, colonel of the Ninth Minnesota 
regiment, who fell in battle near Tupelo, Mississippi. 

2. It is one of the western counties, and is bounded on the 
east by Grant and Otter Tail counties; on the west by Dakota Ter- 
ritory, from which it is separated by the Red river of the North; 
on the north by Clay county; and on the south by Traverse- 
count v. 



46 GEOGRAPHY. 

3. Two branches of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba 
railroad pass through it. 

4. Its population is 1^906, and 645 are foreign born. 
JBreckenridge, on the Red river of the North, is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Wilkin county established? After whom was it named? 
Give its boundark.? What railroads pass through? Mention the 
county seat? 

WINONA COUNTY. 

1. Winona county was established in 1854, and is called after 
Wee-no-nah, the name of the first born girl in every Sioux 
family. 

2. It is bounded on the east by the State of Wisconsin, and 
separated therefrom by the Mississippi river; on the west by 
Olmsted county; on the north by Wabasha county and the State 
of Wisconsin; and on the south by Fillmore and Houston 
counties. 

3 . It is traversed by the Winona and St. Peter and the Chicago, 
Milwaukee and St. Paul railroads. 

4. Winona is its county seat, and the third city of the State 
in population. Here is the oldest State Normal School, whose 
building is an ornament to the city. 

5. The population of the county is 27,197, and 8,383 are 
foreign born. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Winona county established ? Why so called ? Give the 
boundaries ? What railroads pass through ? What is said of its county 
seat ? 

WEIGHT COUNTY. 

1 . Wright county w as established in 1 8 5 5 , and is named after 
Silas Wright, once Governor of New York. 

2. It is bounded on the east by Hennepin county; on the west 
by Meeker county; on the north by Stearns and Sherburne 
counties; and on the south by McLeod and Carver counties. 

3. Two lines of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba rail- 
road passi through it. 



MINNESOTA. 47 

4. * Its population is 18,104, and 6, 109 are foreign born. 

5. Buffalo is the county seat, but Delano and Howard Lake 
are the largest villages. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Wright county established? After whom was it named? 
Give the boundaries? What railroad passes through? Mention the 
county seat? 

YELLOW MEDICINE. 

1. Yellow Medicine county was established in 1871, and is 
called after a stream which the Sioux Indians called Pay-zhe- 
hoo-ta-ze, in English, Yellow Medicine. 

2- It is bounded on the east by Redwood and Renville 
counties, separated from the latter by the Minnesota river; on 
the west by Dakota Territory; on the north by Lac qui Parle 
and Chippewa counties, and separated from the latter by the 
Minnesota .river; and on the south by Lincoln, Lyon, and Red- 
wood counties. 

3. Before the Indian outbreak of 1862, there were a Presby- 
terian mission and boarding school for Sioux children on the 
banks of the Yellow Medicine. 

4. A branch of the Winona and St. Peter railroad runs through 
the county. 

5. Its population is 5,884, and 2,541 are foreign born. Granite 
Palls is the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Yellow Medicine county established ? Why so called ? 
Give the boundaries? What is said of an Indian mission? What rail- 
xoad passes through? Mention the county seat? 



COUNTIES ARRANGED ACCORDING TO TIME OF CREATION. 



.October,' 1849* 



March, 1852 
.March. 1853. 



.February, 1854 
.February, 1855- 



March, 1856> 



.May, 1857 



COUNTIES. COUNTY SEAT. 

Benton Sauk Rapids 

Dakota Hastings 

Itasca Not organized " " 

Ramsey Saint Paul ..] '* " 

Wabasha Wabasha ".' " 

Washington Stillwater ..." " " 

^?ss .Not organized September, 1851 

Chisago Centre City " 

Hennepin Minneapolis 

Blue Earth Mankato 

Fillmore Preston 

Goodb ue Ked Wing 

Le Sueur '. Le Sueur Center 

Nicollet Saint Peter 

Rice Fari baul t 

Sibley Henderson 

Houston Caledonia , 

Winona Winona 

Brown . New Ulm 

Carver Chaska 

Dodge Mantorville 

Faribault Blue Earth City 

Freeborn Albert Lea 

Mower Austin 

Olmsted Rochester 

Renville Beaver Falls 

Stearns St. Cloud , 

Steele Owat onna 

Wrieht Buffalo 

Lake Beaver Bay 

McLeod Glencoe 

Meeker Litchfield 

Pine Pine <"ity 

Saint Louis Duluth 

Sherburne Elk River 

Aitkin Aitkin 

Anoka Anoka 

Carlton • Thon pson 

Cottonwood Wmdom 

Crow Wing Brainerd 

Isanti Not organized 

Jackson Jackson... 

Martin Fair moun t 

Mille Lacs Princeton 

Murray Currie 

Nobles Worthmgton 

Pipestone Pipestone City 

Bock Luverne 

Waseca Waseca 

Becker '. Detroit 

Douglas Alexandria 

Kanabec Brunswick - 

Kandiyohi Willmar «• 

Morrison Little Falls 

Otter Tail Fergus Falls. - 

Polk Crookston ' * L 

Scott'.'.'.'.... Shakopee " 

Wadena Wadena July, 1858 

Stevens ". Morris February, I860 

Watonwan Saint James •« " 

Big Stone Ortonville February, 1862 

Chippewa Montevideo " " 

Clay Moorhead . . . . . '. " " 

Pope Glenwood " " 

Redwood Redwood Fails *« 

Todd Long Prairie " " 

Traverse Man dada " " 

Beltrami Not organized February, 1866 

Grant Herman March, 1868 

Wilkin Breckenridge " 

Lyon M arshall November, 

Swift Benson March, 

Lac qui Parle Lac qui Parle November, 1871 

Yellow Medicine. Granite Falls 

Lincoln Marshfield March . 1873 

Cook Grand Marais March , 1874 

Kittson Hallock February, 1879 

Marshall Warren 

Norman Ada November, 1881 

Hubbard Not organized February, 1883 



March, 1858 



1869 
1870 



HISTORY 



MIN"N"BSOTA. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE INDIANS WHEN FIRST VISITED BY THE FRENCH. 

1. The Indian tribes who hunted in Minnesota when the 
country was first visited by white men, were the Dakotah, or 
Sioux ; the Aiouez, or Ioways ; the Otoctatas, or Ottoes, and 
the Shaiena, or Cheyennes. 

2- The word Dakotah signi 'es allied, or joined together in 
friendly compact, equivalent to "E pluribus unum" the motto 
on the seal of the United States of America. A French writer 
more than two hundred years ago alludes to them in these words: 
" For sixty leagues from the extremity of the Upper Lake, 
toward sunset, and in the center of the western nations, they 
have all united their force by a general league." 

3. Sioux, the word by which they are now known, is an 
abbreviation of an jib way word. The Ojibways, or Chippewas, 
hated the Dakotahs, and told the French that they were Nado- 
waisioug, which in their language signified enemies. Charle- 
voix, an early historian of Canada, writes : " The name of 
Sioux, that we give these Indians, is entirely of our own mak- 
ing, or rather it is the last two syllables of the name of Na- 
douessioux, as many natives call them." 

4. A large division of the Sioux was found by the first French 
explorers around Mille Lacs, and they called themselves Med- 
ay-wah-ka\vn-twahn, or People of the Spirit Lake. 

(i) 



Z , HISTORY. 

5. Upon early maps, other divisions of Sioux are marked 
north ami west of these, the Seeseetoans, the Wokpaykootays, 
the Teetwawns, and the Ihanctons, or Yanktons, who roamed 
over the plains between the Red River of the North and the 
sacred Red Pipestone Quarry. 

6. The Ioways were then between the Des Moines and the 
Minnesota rivers, and the Ottoes also. 

7. The Cheyennes occupied the region about the sources of 
the Red River of the North. 

8- About the year 1750, the Ojibways pushed the Sioux west- 
ward and southward, and occupied their old homes at Mille Lacs 
and Sandy Lake. 

QUESTIONS. 

Mention the tribes the French found in Minnesota ? What does the 
word Dakotah mean ? Give the origin of the word Sioux ? Mention 
the division of the Sioux at Mille Lacs when the country was first 
discovered ? Where did other Sioux bands dwell ? Where did the 
Ioways live ? Where were the Cheyennes ? When did the Ojibways 
occupy Sandy Lake ? 



CHAPTER II. 



DAKOTAH LEGENDS. 

1. Some of the legends of the Dakotahs are worthy of pre- 
servation; although they have the gloom of heathenism. 

EAGLE EYE A^D SCAELET DOVE. 

2. Eagle Eye, the son of a great war prophet, was fleet, well- 
formed, feared by his enemies and loved by his friends. 

3- When a young man he wooed an attractive maiden 
named Scarlet Dove; and some time after she became the in- 
mate of his lodge. They descended the Mississippi with a hunt- 
ing party, and proceeded east of Lake Pepin. 

4, One day, while Eagle Eye was behind some bushes, watch- 
ing for deer, the arrow of a comrade found its way to his hiding 
place and pierced his heart, and with only time to speak the 
name of Scarlet Dove, he died. 

5. For a few days the widow mourned, and in accordance 
with custom, cut her flesh, and then, in the silence of woe, 



MINNESOTA. 



3 



wrapped her beloved in the skins of animals and placed him 
on a burial scaffold. 

6. When the hunting party moved she took down the re- 
mains, and placing them on her back followed her associates 
upon their return journey. 

7. When Scarlet Dove reached the mouth of the Minne- 
sota river, she brought forks of wood and poles from the oak 
lands and erected a permanent scaffold on that beautiful hill 
in the rear of the hamlet of Mendota, opposite Fort Snelling. 

8. Having carefully adjusted the remains of the object of her 
love upon the scaffold, with the portage strap by which she 
had carried her precious burden, she hung herself to the scaf- 
fold, in the hope that she might walk with him again in the 
Spirit land. 

LEGEND OF WEENONAH. 

9- Major Long, of the United States Army, who made a 
canoe voyage in 1817 to the Falls of St. Anthony, was the first 
to give this legend in detail, and as he heard it from Wauppau- 
shaw, as he spells the name, a Sioux Chief then living where 
now is the city of Winona. 

10. On the Wisconsin shore of Lake Pepin, about twelve 
miles from its mouth, there is a height which attracts a travel- 
er's attention. Its summit is about four hundred and fifty 
feet above the water, the last hundred of which is a bold escarp- 
ment. It is known as Maiden's Rock. 

11. There once dwelt with Wapashaw's band a maiden with 
a loving soul. She was the first born daughter, and as is always 
the case in a Dakotah family, she was called, on that account, 
Weenonah. 

12. A young hunter of the same band was never happier 
than when he played his rude flute in her presence. Having 
thus signified his affection, she reciprocated, but her parents 
wished her to marry one who had often been on the war path, 
and whose head-dress plainly told the number of scalps he had 
wrenched from the heads of his foes. 

13. One day the band came to Lake Pepin. The dark green 
foliage, the smooth sward, the shady nooks, the silvery expanse 
of water, made it a place for lovers to be united, but Weenonah 



4 HISTOEY. 

was urged by her parents, and brothers and sisters, to be the wife 
of the warrior. 

14. She replied that " she did not love the warrior, and would 
live single forever, rather than marry him. You call me 
daughter and sister, yet try to have me marry the man of your 
choice, and not of my own. You say that you love me, yet you 
have driven away the only man that can make me happy. 

15. "He loved me, but you would not let us be happy. He 
has therefore left me, left his parents, left his friends, and has 
gone to mourn in the silence of the forest. Not satisfied with 
this, you will now compel me to marry a man I do not love. 
You will soon have no daughter, no sister to torment with hol- 
low professions of love." 

16. While the Indians were preparing for the proposed nup- 
tial ceremonies, Weenonah ascended to the top of Maiden's 
Rock and sang her death dirge, in which she upbraided her par- 
ents, and brothers, and sisters. 

17- Her parents at the foot of the Rock entreated her to 
desist from her determination to die, and her brothers attempted 
to stop her, but before they could reach the top of the hill she 
had jumped off, and falling amid the jagged rocks, was found 
lifeless. 

ANPETUSAPA. 

18. Many years before the white man gazed at the Falls of 
Saint Anthony, the Sioux say that there a melancholy trag- 
edy occurred. 

19- Anpetusapa was the first love and wife of a Dakotah hun- 
ter, and for a time happiness prevailed in their lodge. 

20. 

"With knife of bone she carved her food, 

Fuel with axe of stone procured, 
Could fire extract from flint, or wood, 

To rudest savage life inured. 

In kettle frail of birchen bark, 

She boiled her food, with heated stones; 

The slippery fish from coverts dark, 
She drew with hooked bone." 

21. But in time all sunshine vanished from the woman's 
heart. Her husband one day came home and said: " You know 



MINNESOTA. O 

1 can love no one so much as I love you; yet, I see that our con- 
nection subjects you to hardships and fatigue. This grieves me 
much, but I know of one remedy by which you can be re- 
lieved, and which with your concurrence will be adopted. An- 
other wife will I take who shall be subject to your control, and 
be second in my affections. " 

22. Anpetusapa begged that he would not take such a step, 
but he persisted, and she then took her two children and went 
back to her father. One day in returning from a hunting ex- 
pedition, she and her children occupied a canoe by themselves. 

23. After the rest of the party had landed above the por- 
tage of St. Anthony, she lingered behind, and then paddled into 
the rapids above the cataract, and began her death chant, in 
which she recited the wretchedness of her life, since her hus- 
band had taken another wife. The canoe was plunged into the 
seething waters below the Falls, and nothing was ever seen of 
it, or the unhappy wife and her children. 

24- The Dakotahs say that sometimes in the mists of the 
morning, the spirit of Anpetusapa is seen amid the spray with 
the children clinging around her neck, and her death dirge is 
heard above the roar of the waters. 

QUESTIONS. 

Narrate the legend of Eagle Eye ; and Scarlet Dove ? What is the 
legend of Weenonah ? Kepeat the legend of Anpetusapa ? 



CHAPTER III. 

THE EEENCH EXPLOKATION. 

1. Garneau, in his History of Canada, mentions that the 
two Frenchmen who first visited Minnesota were in sympathy 
with the Huguenots. Their names were Medard Chouart, 
known as the Sieur Groselliers, and Pierre d'Esprit, called 
Sieur Radisson, whose sister was the second wife of Groselliers. 

2o They reached the extremity of Lake Superior in the au- 
tumn of 1659, and journeying beyond the lake for six days to- 
ward the southwest, they found in northwestern Wisconsin, to- 
ward the sources of Black river, a band of refugee Hurons, wdth 



b HISTOBY. 

whom Groselliers had some intercourse before they were driven 
by the Iroquois from the eastern shores of Lake Huron. 

3. These Hurons in their flight had lived for a time upon an 
island in the Mississippi river, between Hastings and Red Wing, 
and the Frenchmen learned from them of that river, which 
they described as large, wide, deep, and beautiful. 

4. During the winter of 1660, they also visited the Sioux of 
Minnesota, in the Mille Lacs region, and gained some knowl- 
edge of the Assineboines, a separated band of Sioux, who dwelt 
where wood was scarce and small, and made fire- with coal or 
peat, and dwelt in tents of skins, or mud cabins. 

5. In August, 1660, they returned to Montreal with three 
hundred Indians and sixty canoes loaded with furs, and their re- 
ports of the natives they had visited, led the Jesuit Menard to 
accompany them on their return voyage to Lake Superior. To- 
ward -the close of the same month that he arrived, Groselliers 
left Montreal with six Frenchmen and the priest, Menard, for 
Lake Superior. 

6. Menard stopped for the winter at Keeweenaw Bay, and in 
the summer of 1661, attempted to visit the Hurons by way of 
the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers, and is supposed to have 
been lost near the Black River Falls, in the present State of 
Wisconsin. 

7- The French established a trading post before the year 1665, 
at the lower end of Chegoimegon Bay of Lake Superior, not far 
from the present town of Ashland, Wisconsin, and the French- 
men from thence visited the Sioux of Minnesota. 

8. Before 1678, Sieur Randin, an engineer, visited the Sioux 
with presents from Frontenac, the Governor of Canada. 

THE SIEUE DIT LUTH. 

9. The Sieur Du Luth, a man of intelligence and influence in 
Canada, a cousin of the explorer, Henry Tonty, on July 2 T 
1679, planted the arms of France in a large Sioux village in the 
Mille Lacs region, and then went northward to the Sioux 
bands of Sissetons and Wahpaytoans, by a circuitous route of 
more than three hundred miles, and there, also planted the 
King's arms. 

10- On September 15th of the same year, he had returned to 
the extremity of Lake Superior, and there held a council with 



MINNESOTA. 7 

the Sioux and Assineboines, and visited them during the succeed- 
ing winter. 

11. In June, 1680, he determined to visit the Mille Lacs re- 
gion by water, and with this view entered a river about twenty- 
five miles from the head of Lake Superior, on the south side, 
now called the Bois Brule, or Burnt Wood. He took with him . 
an Indian as an interpreter, and four Frenchmen, in two canoes, 
and after breaking down numerous beaver dams, reached the 
sources of the stream. 

12- By a short portage he reached the lake from which flows 
St. Croix river, and descended this stream to its entrance into 
the Mississippi river. 

13. At this point he met eight lodges of Sioux, and learned 
from them that two Frenchmen and the Franciscan priest, Hen- 
nepin, were with some of their tribe at some distance below. 

14- Du Luth left two of his Frenchmen and his goods at the 
lodges, and taking one of the Indians as a guide, descended the 
Mississippi, and on the third day, about ten o'clock in the morn- 
ing, came to the hunting party where Hennepin and his com- 
panions were. Du Luth took the priest in his canoe, and they 
all again ascended the stream and went back to the villages in 
the Mille Lacs region. 

LOUIS HENNEPIN, THE FRANCISCAN". 

15- Louis Hennepin, the Franciscan, was invited by La 
Salle to accompany him in his explorations of the Illinois 
country. 

16- La Salle, in a letter written on the shores of Lake Onta- 
rio, on August 22, 16S2, where Kingston is now built, mentions 
that he caused the Upper Mississippi to be explored by two of 
his men, one named Michael Accault, and the other known as 
the Picard, with whom Father Louis Hennepin was associated. 

17- Owing to ice, the party stopped with their canoe on 
' March 12, 1680, at the mouth of the Illinois river. While as- 
cending the Mississippi, April 11th, a war party of Sioux In- 
dians were met in birch bark canoes going southward. Michael 
Accault, as leader of the whites, presented them the calumet, 
which they accepted, and they turned back and ascended with 
the white men, who did not understand the Sioux language, to a 
point a few miles below the site of the city of St. Paul. 



8 HISTORY. 

18- Here they left the canoes in a marsh, and went by land 
to Mille Lacs, where they seem to have arrived early in May. 
Accault was taken to one village, and the Picard, whose name 
was Du Gray, with Hennepin, went to another. Six weeks 
afterward the Picard and Hennepin accompanied a hunting 
party down the Mississippi, by way of the Falls of St. Anthony, 
which received the name from Hennepin, where they were found 
by Du Luth. 

19. Du Luth and the others having come back to Mille Lacs, 
they did not long remain there, but returned by way of the 
Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers to Mackinaw. La Salle con- 
cludes his account in these words: " I have thought it proper to 
give you this account of the adventures of this canoe, because I 
do not doubt its being spoken of, and if you wish to confer with 
Father Louis Hennepin, the Recollect, about it, who has re- 
turned to France, it is well to know something of it, for he will 
not fail to exaggerate everything; it is his nature." 

NICHOLAS PERROT. 

20- The next explorer was Nicholas Perrot, who reached a 
point above the present city of La Crosse in the autumn of 1685, 
and from thence proceeded to the Wisconsin shore of Lake 
Pepin, just above its entrance, and built a stockade, called Fort 
Saint Anthony. 

21. About this time he was recalled by the Governor of 
Canada, to engage in an expedition against the Senecas of 
western New York, but was afterwards sent again with forty 
Frenchmen to the Sioux of Minnesota. 

22. On the 8th of May, 16S9, at Fort Saint Anthony, on the 
Wisconsin shore of Lake Pepin, he took formal possession of 
the Upper Mississippi region. 

23- Perrot also established a post where the town of Prairie 
du Chien is situated, which, in compliment to him, is marked on 
a map of the year 1688, Fort Saint Nicholas, and at a latter 
period he discovered the lead mines near Galena, which were 
called Perrot's mines for a long time. 

PIERRE LE SUEUR. 

24- Pierre Le Sueur, who had accompanied Perrot to Lake 
Pepin, in the autumn of 1693, was sent to Chagouamigoii 



MINNESOTA. . 9 

Bay, Lake Superior, to maintain peace between the Sioux 
and Ojibways, and he was recognized at that time by the 
Governor of Canada as having great influence with the Sioux. 
From thence he proceeded to an island in the Mississippi, about 
nine miles below the site of the present town of Hastings, and 
built a stockade. 

25- In July, 1695, Le Sueur arrived at Montreal with the 
first Sioux chief who had ever visited that place, named Teeos- 
kahtay, who was forty years of age. 

26 < The Sioux chief never returned home. He was taken 
sick, and on the 3d of February, 1606, died at Le Sueur's house 
in Montreal. 

27- Le Sueur did not,until A. D. 1700, again visit Minnesota. 
On the 29th of March, 1690, he married the first cousin of 
D'Iberville, the first Governor of Louisiana, and was with him 
in 1699, in Paris. 

28- When D'Iberville was about to sail for the Gulf of 
Mexico, he received the following dispatch from the Minister of 
the Marine: u The Sieur Le Sueur, of Canada, having induced 
certain persons in Paris to take an interest with him in the 
seeking for certain mines which he claimed to have discovered 
in the Sioux country, His Majesty two years ago gave him 
permission to go thither with some Canadians, but afterwards, 
having thought first to revoke the permit, the Sieur Le Sueur 
has requested to go to the mouth of the Mississippi, and ascend 
it as far as the Sioux country. 

" His Majesty very willingly acceded to his request, and it is his 
wish that you receive him on the ship which you command, 
with the men required for the fitting out of two canoes, some 
laborers and necessary munitions; and in case he should not 
have enough men with him for the two canoes, he desires that 
you allow him some of the Canadians which you take with you." 

29- The ship arrived with Le Sueur about the beginning of 
the year 1700, at the Bay of Biloxi, and in February, at a point 
on the shores of the lower Mississippi, commenced prepar- 
ations to ascend the Minnesota river. 

30- In April, with Penicaut and about twenty others, he be- 
gan slowly to ascend the Mississippi in a felucca, which was a 
trade vessel propelled by oars and sails, and on the 19th of 



10 



HISTORY. 



September reached the mouth of the Minnesota river, which, the 
French called Saint Pierre, as it is supposed, suggested by the 
baptismal name of Le Sueur, as the Assineboine was afterward 
called Saint Charles, in honor of Charles Beauharnois, Governor 
of Canada. 

31. He was here met by some of the Ottoes, Ioways, and 
western Sioux, and on the last day of September, had as- 
cended the Minnesota to the mouth of the Blue Earth river. 

3 w. Nearly three miles up this last river he found a suitable 
point for a stockade, a little distance from the woods. In a few 
days some Canadians arrived who had been pillaged by the Sioux 
of the Mille Lacs region, and were vexed because Le Sueur had 
established his post so far west. 

33. On the 26th of November some of the bands of the 
Mille Lacs region arrived at the post, and one of their chiefs, 
Ouacantapay asked Le Sueur to visit his lodge. 

34. He there found sixteen men, with several women and 
children, whose faces were daubed with J)lack, and in the middle 
were several buffalo skins upon which he was^ invited to sit. The 
chief offered him wild rice to eat, and according to their custom 
placed the first three spoonsful in his mouth ; then he wa& 
told that all present were relatives of the Sioux chief who, in 
1696, had died in his house at Montreal. 

35- At the name of the deceased Teeoskahtay, they began to 
weep, and to 'wipe their tears on Le Sueur's head and shoulders,, 
and for their dead relative's sake, begged him to forget the 
insult to the Canadians by the Med-day-wah-kawn-twawn Sioux. 

36. Then in the spring of 1701 the supposed mine of copper r 
not a mile from the post, was worked, and in twenty days many 
thousand pounds of green earth were dug out, four thousand o£ 
which were selected for transportation. 

37. I n the beginning of May the shallop which had been 
hauled up during the winter, was launched and loaded. Le 
Sueur leaving the fort, which was called L' Huillier, after a 
gentleman in Paris, in charge of one D' Evaque and twelve 
others, descended to the Gulf of Mexico. 

38. D' Evaque was afterwards driven from the post by the 
Foxes and Maskoutens, and explorations of the Minnesota 
Valley ceased for several years. 



MINNESOTA. 



11 



39. Groselliers, as early as 1660, had intercourse with the 
Assineboines at the Grand Portage at the extremity of Lake 
Superior, and by way of Lake Nepigon found his way to Hud- 
son's Bay, but not to Lake Winnipeg as has sometimes been 
alleged. 

40. In the year 1716, the Governor of Canada determined to 
make an attempt to discover a northern route to the Pacific 
Ocean, and late in 1717, Lieutenant Robertel de la Noue ariived 
with some canoes, at the point on Lake Superior where the 
Northwestern Company afterward built Fort William, but 
owing to the cold weather did not proceed to Rainy Lake as in- 
tended. He sent, however, a Sieur Pachot among the Sioux 
to establish friendly relations. 

41. Charlevoix, who came from France to examine Canada 
and Louisiana, in 1721, reported that he thought a way could be 
found to the Pacific Ocean, either by way of the Missouri river 
or through the Sioux country. 

PORT BEAUHARNOIS, ON LAKE PEPIN. 

42- In June, 1727, an expedition left Montreal under Rene 
Boucher, thfl Sieur de le Perriere. In the company were his 
brother, the Sieur Montbrun, his nephew, Sieur de le Jemeraye,. 
and the Jesuits, Guignas and De Gonor. At noon, on the 17th 
of September, they reached a low point about the middle of 
Lake Pepin, and in four clays a stockade was erected, which, in 
honor of the Governor of Canada, was called Fort Beauharnois 

43. High water the next spring forced a change of position, 
and in October, 1728, the fort being left in charge of Sieur de- 
le Jemeraye, the Sieur Boucherville, Montbrun, and the Jesuit 
Guignas left Lake Pepin to go to Montreal by way of the Illi- 
nois river. 

44. On their way they were captured by some Maskoutens 
and Kickapoos, who wished to deliver them up to the Foxes. 
The night before they were to be surrendered, the Sieur de 
Montbrun, his brother, and another Frenchman, escaped, but 
the Sieur de Boucherville and Father Guignas remained pris- 
oners for several months. 

45. In the spring of 1728, De Gonor, the Jesuit, returned 
from Lake Pepin to Canada, and at Mackinaw he met the Sieur 



12 HISTORY. 

Verendrye who had been in charge of a post at Lake Nepigon, 
north of Lake Superior, and the latter by him transmitted to 
the Governor of Canada the information that Paeco, an Indian 
chief of Lake Nepigon, had found a great lake with three dis- 
tinct rivers, one flowing toward Hudson's Bay, the second 
toward the south, and the third toward the setting sun. 

46- In another letter he told the Governor that there were 
two routes to the lake, which was Winnipeg, one by the Fond da 
Lac river of Lake Superior, or Saint Louis, and the other by the 
Kamanistigoya. He also sent a map. drawn by Ochakah, his 
Indian guide, giving a general idea of the chain of lakes between 
Lake Winnipeg and Lake Superior. 

FIRST EXPEDITION TO RAINY LAKE. 

47- The Governor of Canada, in 1731, permitted Yerendrye 
to attempt the discovery of Lake Winnipeg. The expedition 
was under the conduct of his three sons, and his nephew, the 
Sieur de la Jemeraye, who had beeu left in charge of the fort 
on Lake Pepin, but had been driven away by the hostile Foxes. 

48- Iu the autumn the party reached Rainy Lake, under 
the guidance of De le Jemeraye, by way of the Grand Portage, 
and the Groselliers river, now called the Pigeon, and Father 
Messager, who had been stationed at Mackinaw, went as a 
spiritual guide. At this lake they erected a post, which they 
called Fort St. Pierre, in compliment to the projector of the ex- 
pedition, Pierre Yerendrye. 

49- In 1732, they advanced to the Lake of the Woods and 
erected another fort, which they called Fort St. Charles in 
honor of Charles de Beauharnois, the Governor of Canada; from 
thence they advanced to Lake Winnipeg, and near the eastern 
end established Fort Maurepas. 

50. De la Jemeraye visited the Governor of Canada and in- 
formed him that the expedition had reached Lake Winnipeg, 
and that they could not further proceed without aid from the 
Government. No money was given, but Yerendrye and associ- 
ates were allowed a monopoly of the fur -trade, and to appoint 
traders at the posts established. After this Yerendrye joined 
his sons in the work of discovery. 



MINNESOTA. 13 

51. On the 3d of October, 1738, the expedition erected a 
fort on the north side of the Assineboine river, called Fort de 
l;i lieine, which became the advanced post, a center for trade and 
discovery. 

RETIREMENT OF THE SIOUX. 

52. It was the policy of the French to encourage the jib- 
ways, who were their friends, to drive off the Sioux from north- 
ern Minnesota, and before the year 1750, they had occupied the 
Sioux villages at Sandy Lake and Mille Lacs, while the latter 
had migrated westward, or toward the mouth of the Minnesota 
river. A very old chief of the Ojibways, or Chippeways, in 
1806, told Lieutenant Pike that when he was a boy the Sioux 
were still residing at Sandy Lake. 

53- In the year 1736, Jacques Legardeur Saint Pierre, the 
grandson of Nicolet, the first white man who, about the year 
1634, came to Green Bay, Wisconsin, was in charge of the fort 
at Lake Pepin. From thence he was sent to Mackinaw, and 
afterwards to Fort La Reine on the Assineboine, where the In- 
dians attempted to kill him and burn the fort. 

54. As there was prospect of war between England and 
France, in 1753, he was recalled, and ordered to a rude fort in 
Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he had an interview with young 
George Washington, the bearer of dispatches from Governor 
Dinwiddie, of Virginia. He was killed on the 8th of Septem- 
ber, 1755, at the battle of Lake George. The assertion which 
has been made that the Minnesota river was once called Saint 
Pierre, after him, is a mistake. 

QUESTIONS. 

Mention the first white men who visited Minnesota? Where were the 
refugee Hurons at that time ? When did the first explorers return to 
Montreal? Who accompanied Groselliers upon his second journey to 
Lake Superior? When did Menard pass the winter on Lake Superior? 
Where was he lost ? When was the first trading post built at Chegoi- 
megon? What engineer visited the Sioux? Who was Sieur Du Luth? 
When did he plant the arms of France in Minnesota? When did he 
explore the St. Croix river? Whom did he find on the Mississippi 
river? Who was Louis Hennepin? Whom did he accompany on an 
expedition to the upper Mississippi river? Give an account of the ad- 
ventures of Accault and companions ? What did La Salle write about 
Hennepin? When did Perrot build a stockade on the shores of Lake 
Pepin ? When did he again visit the Sioux country ? What mines 



14 H1ST0EY. 

■did he discover? Mention some facts in the life of Le Sueur? Give 
the name of the first Sioux chief who visited Montreal ? Where did the 
chief die? W hat relation was Le Sueur to the first Governor of Louis- 
iana? When did Le Sueur reach the Bay of Biloxi? When did he 
arrive at the mouth of the Blue Earth river? 'Where was Fort 
L'Huillier built ? What is said about a supposed copper mine ? With 
whom did Le Sueur leave the fort? Why was it abandoned? Who 
found a route to Hudson's Bay ? What is said about a route to the 
Northern Pacific? Mention che routes recommended by Charlevoix? 
By whom was Fort Beauharnois established ? Give some particulars. 
What is said of the Jesuit De Gonor? Who conducted the first expe- 
dition to Bainy Lake? What fort was established there? What fort 
at Lake o£ the Woods? Where was Fort Maurepas built? Give some 
account of Verendrye. Where was Fort La Beine? 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE BRITISH FLAG IN MINNESOTA. 

1. On the 8th of September, 1760, the French capitulated at 
T\iontreal and agreed to deliver up all their posts in Canada. 

2. Lieutenant Gorrell, on the 12th of October, 1761, arrived 
at Green Bay with a few British soldiers, and took possession of 
the dilapidated French fort. 

3. In the autumn of 1762, he allowed a French trader to go 
among the eastern division of the Sioux who were then in one 
band near the mouth of the Minnesota river. His name was 
Penneshaw, or Pennensha, and his son by an Indian woman be- 
came a chief of a village above Mendota, known as Penneshaw's. 

4. By the treaty of Paris, in 17^3, France ceded to Great 
Britain all of the country east of the Mississippi ; and to Spain 
ihe whole of Louisiana, so that portion of Minneapolis, known 
as the eastern division of the city, was under British rule, while 
the territory known as the western division was subject to the 
Spanish code. 

JONATHAN CARVER. 

5- The first British subject, of whom there is any account, 
who visited Minnesota was Jonathan Carver. 

6- His grandfather, William Carver, was a native of Wigan, 
in Lancashire, and a captain in Ireland under William, the 
Prince of Orange, afterwards king of England, and his father 
migrated to the colony of Connecticut. 



MINNESOTA. 15 

7. Jonathan Carver was born at Canterbury, in Connecticut, 
and became a captain in the provincial regiment, which was 
the advance of the English army in the battle of Lake George 
where Legardeur Saint Pierre, formerly at Lake Pepin and the 
head of the Indian allies of the Frencn, was killed, and about 
the same hour the colonel of Carver's regiment fell, who was 
Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams College at Wil- 
liam st own, Massachusetts. 

8. After the French War, Carver had a farm near Vernon, 
Vermont, which is known as the " Carver Place." 

9- On the 12th of September, 1766,- with some traders he 
left Green Bay, and on the 1st of November arrived at Lake 
Pepin, and observed the ruins of the French fort where Cap- 
tain St. Pierre had resided and carried on a very great trade with 
the " Naudowessies,' 1 or Sioux. The tenth day after leaving Lake 
Pepin he visited a cave which was at Dayton's Bluff, in the 
present city of St. Paul, but has since been almost obliterated 
by the cutting for railroad purposes. 

10- While there were then no permanent Sioux villages be- 
low the mouth of the Minnesota, the Sioux used to bury on the 
hills above the cave. Carver writes: u At a little distance from 
this dreary cavern is the burying-place of several bands of the 
Naudowessie Indians, though these people have no fixed resi- 
dence, living in tents, and abiding but a few months in one 
spot, yet they always bring the bones of the dead to this place, 
which they take the opportunity of doing when the chiefs meet 
to hold their councils and to settle all public affairs for the en- 
suing summer/ 1 The burial mounds of the Sioux are still vis- 
ible in the eastern portion of the city of St. Paul. 

1 1 . He arrived at the Falls of St. Anthony on the 17th of 
November, and passed the winter of the year 1767 among the 
Sioux of the Minnesota Valley. 

12- The first engraving of the Falls of St. Anthony w?s made 
from his drawings, and on the 1st of May, 1778, published in 
London. 

13. When the treaty of peace was concluded between Great 
Britain and the United States, at Paris, on the 3d of September^ 
1783, so little was known of the region west of Lake Superior, 
that it provided for an international boundary line from the 



16 HISTOEY. 

northwest point of Lake of the Woods, " due west to the Mis- 
sissippi river." 

14- By the treaty of 1818, the error was corrected and pro- 
vision made for the present boundary line from the northwest 
part of Lake of the Woods due south to the forty-ninth parallel 
of north latitude, thence west to the Rocky Mountains. 

15- In the year 1784, some enterprising merchants in Mon- 
treal formed a trading company, styled the Northwest Com- 
pany, and traders established posts in Minnesota. In 1796,. 
the Northwest Company built a post at Sandy Lake, and em- 
ployed David Thompson as astronomer and geographer to sur- 
vey the country west of Lake Superior. 

16. On the 7th of March, 1797, he reached the junction of 
the Assineboine and Red rivers, and began the survey of the 
latter stream. In April he visited Red Lake, in Minnesota, and 
on the night of the 23d of the month reached Turtle Lake, 
the northernmost source of the Mississippi river, and ascertained 
its latitude. 

17- The fur trade of the Red River of the North was chiefly 

controlled by the Northwest Company, and Henry, one of its 

partners, in 1800 erected a post at Pembina, and another at Park 

river, and under his supervision horses, and a peculiar cart known 

as the Red River Cart, were first used in northern Minnesota and 

Manitoba. 

QUESTIONS. 

"When did the French capitulate? When was Green Bay occupied 
by the British? What was ceded by the treaty of Paris? Give some 
particulars of Jonathan Carver's life? What was his route to the 
Falls of Saint Anthony ? What is his description of a cave at Saint 
Paul? What is said of the treaty of 1783? When was a geographical 
error corrected as to the boundary between Great Britain and the 
United States? When was the Northwest Company established? Give 
some particulars of the life of Thompson the geographer and astrono- 
mer ? Who introduced horses and the red river cart in the valley of the 
Red River of the North, 



CHAPTER V. 



FIRST UNITED STATES SOLDIEES IN MINNESOTA. 

1. In the treaty made by John Jay upon the part of the United 
States, Great Britain agreed to withdraw her troops from all 
parts within the boundary lines of the treaty of 1783, on or 
before the 1st day of June, 1796, 



MINNESOTA. 1 ♦ 

2. On the 7th of May, 1800, the Northwest Territory, which 
included all of the country north of the Ohio and east of the 
Mississippi, was divided, and that portion not designated as 
Ohio, was called Indiana Territory. 

3- On the 20th of December, 1803, the province of Louisiana, 
of which that part of Minnesota west of the Mississippi was a 
part, was delivered up by the French, who had just obtained it 
from the Spaniards. 

4. On March 20, 1804, the Territory of Upper Louisiana was 
constituted, comprising the present States of Arkansas, Mis- 
souri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and that portion of Minnesota 
west of the Mississippi river. 

5. On January 11, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was 
taken from the Northwest Territory. This year, also, this por- 
tion of the upper Mississippi Valley was visited for the first 
time by an officer of the United States Army. 

6- Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike was ordered by 
General Wilkinson to examine the condition of the country, and 
to confer with British traders trading therein. 

7- On September 21, 1805, with a few soldiers, he arrived 
and encamped on the northeast corner of the island which now 
bears his name, at the confluence of the Minnesota and Missis- 
sippi rivers. 

8- On Monday, the 23d, he held a council with the Sioux, 
under a covering made by suspending the sails of the boats. 
He told them that the United States wished to establish mili- 
tary posts on the upper Mississippi, which would be a benefit 
to them, and they agreed to grant for such posts nine miles 
square, from below the confluence of the Mississippi and St. 
Peters, now Minnesota river, extending nine miles on each side 
of the river; and also nine miles square at the mouth of the 
St. Croix river. 

9. By the first of October he reached a point on the Missis- 
sippi near Swan river, where he erected a stockade enclosed 
with pickets, and hauled up his boats for the winter. 

10- Un December 10th, with snow sleds prepared for the 
purpose, he began his northward journey, and on January 3, 
1806, reached Red Cedar, now Cass Lake, and felt indignant 
when he saw the flag of Great Britain flying over the house of 
Grant, a trader of the Northwest Company. 



18 H1ST0KY. 

11. On the 8th. he came to Sandy Lake, and from thence 
proceeded to Leech Lake, where he arrived on February 1st, 
and there found in charge Hugh McGillis, director of the Fond 
du Lac department of the Northwest Company, and he remon- 
strated with him upon the impropriety of presenting to the In- 
dians, British flags and medals. On February 10th, he hoisted 
the United States flag at the post. In his journal he writes: 
" The English yacht still flying at the top of the flag staff. I 
directed the Indians and my riflemen to shoot at it, who soon 
broke the iron pin to which it was fastened, and brought it to 
the ground." Matters having been satisfactorily arranged with 
the British traders, he returned to St. Louis. 

MAJOR LOKG' ; S VISIT Itf A. D. 1817. 

12- After the second war with Great Britain the United 
States, in July, 1816, began the erection of a fort, Called Fort 
Crawford, at Prairh du Chien, near the mouth of the Wisconsin 
river. On July 9, 181.7, Major Stephen A. Long, of the United 
States Army, left the fort in a canoe with some men and 
an interpreter named Roeque, and a gentleman named Hemp- 
stead as a companion. 

13. On July 16 h, he passed the site of the city of St. Paul. 
He described a Sioux village which used to be a few miles be- 
low where that city now is, and on the same side of the river, 
in these words: " Passed a Sioux village on our right contain- 
ing fourteen cabins. The name of the chief is the Petit Cor- 
blan, or the Little Raven. 

14. The Indians were all absent on a hunting party up the 
River St. Croix, which is but a little distance across the country 
fron the village. One of their cabins is furnished with loop- 
holes, and is situated so near the water that the opposite side of 
the river is within musket range from the building. The cab- 
ins are a kind of stockade buildings, and of a better appearance 
than any Indian dwellings I have before met with." 

carver's cave ii* daytok's bluff, saikt PAUL. 
15- " Two miles above the village, on the same side of the river, 
is Carver's Cave, at which we stopped to breakfast. However in- 
teresting it may have been, it does not possess that character 
in a very high degree at present. We descended it with lighted 



MINNESOTA. 19 

candles, to its lower extremity. The entrance is very low, and 
about eight feet broad, so that a man, in order to enter, must be 
completely prostrate. The angle of descent is about twenty-five 
degrees. 

16- The distance from its entrance to its inner extremity is 
twenty-four paces, and the width in the broadest part about 
nine, and its greatest height about seven feet. In shape it re- 
sembles a baker's oven. The cavern was once probably much 
more extensive. My interpeter informed me that since his re- 
membrance the entrance was not less than ten feet high, and its 
length far greater than at present. 

17. A few yards below the mouth of the cavern is a very co- 
pious spring of fine water issuing from the bottom of the cliff." 

MILITAET OCCUPATION OF MINNESOTA. 

18- Early in 1819, Major-General Jacob Brown ordered that 
the Fifth Regiment of the United States Infantry should con- 
centrate at Detroit, and as soon as practicable proceed to Green 
Bay, and from thence, by way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, 
to Prairie du Chien, when, after detaching a sufficient number of 
companies to garrison Fort Crawford and Armstrong, the rest 
would proceed to the mouth of the Minnesota, then called Saint 
Peters river, where the head quarters of the regiment would be 
established. 

19. Pursuant to this order, on Wednesday, the last day of 
June, 1819, Colonel Leavenworth, and troops arrived at Prairie 
du Chien. Scarcely had they reached this point, when Charlotte 
Seymour, a native of Hartford, Connecticut, the wife of Lieu- 
tenant Nathan Clark, gave birth to a daughter, whose first bap- 
tismal name was Charlotte, and the second Ouisconsin, given at 
the request of the officers because she was born near the junction 
of that stream with the Mississippi. After the infant grew up 
she married Lieutenant H. P. Van Cleve, a graduate of West 
Point, and both, in A. D. 1883, were enjoying a serene old age 
in the city of Minneapolis. 

20. Under instructions from the War Department, Major 
Thomas Forsyth, connected with the office of Indian affairs at 
Saint Louis, arrived at Prairie du Chien with two thousand dol- 
lars worth of goods to be distributed among the Sioux in accord- 



20 HISTORY. 

ance with the agreement made in 1805, by Lieutenant Z. M. 
Pike. 

21. On August 8th, Colonel Leavenworth with a large barge, 
fourteen batteaux, two large Mackinaw boats, and a boat of Ma- 
jor Forsyth's filled with Indian goods, left Prairie du Chien, and 
on the 24th of the month arrived at Mendota, near the present 
railroad bridge across the mouth of the Minnesota river, and im- 
mediately ordered the soldiers to begin a clearing for a canton- 
ment. 

22. On August 28th, Major Forsyth in his keel boat visited 
the Falls of Saint Anthony. Those who accompanied him were 
Colonel Leavenworth, Major Vose, Surgeon Purcell, and the wife 
of Captain Gooding. The last was the first white woman to 
gaze upon the roaring waters. The boat, owing to the rapids, 
was left one mile distant from the Falls, and the party walked 
the rest of the distance. After reaching the cataract several of 
the company crossed over to the island above, the water being 
shallow. Early in September, boats arrived at Mendota with 
one hundred and twenty-nine additional soldiers. 

23. On May 5, 1820, Leavenworth removed his camp from 
Mendota and pitched his tents near, a fine spring, and the place 
was known as Camp Cold Water. Not long after, Leavenworth 
was relieved of command by Colonel Snelling, who, on Septem- 
ber 10th, with due ceremony, in the presence of the civil and 
military officers of the post, laid the corner stone , of Fort St. 
Anthony, afterwards called Fort Snelling. In excavating the 
foundation of the circular battery which stood in the rear of 
what were the commanding officers' quarters, at the foot of 
a small oak tree was found a black bottle in which was the 
synopsis of Pike's agreement made in 1805 with the Sioux. 

24- During the summer of 1820, Isadore Poupon, a half- 
breed, and a Canadian m the employ of the Missouri Fur Com- 
pany, were killed near Council Bluffs by some of the Sisseton 
Sioux who lived near the Blue Earth river. To compel the sur- 
render of the murderers the suspected band was deprived of 
traders. The interpreter of the Indian agent, John Campbell^ 
held a council with the Sioux, at Big Stone Lake, and Mazah 
Khotah and another one confessed their guilt, and ex- 
pressed their willingness to deliver themselves to the officers 



MINNESOTA. 21 

at the fort. The aged father of the latter offered himself as a 
substitute, and the old man, with Mazah Khotah and friends 
and relatives proceeded to the mouth of the Minnesota river. 

25. On November 12, 1820, when about a mile distant from 
the garrison, the party halted, lighted their pipes and the death 
dirge was chanted. Blackening their faces, and gashing their 
arms as a token of grief, they then formed a procession and 
marched to the centre of the soldiers' parade ground. First 
came a Sisseton, bearing the British flag, and Mazah Kho- 
tah and the aged father, who had become a substitute for his 
son. 

26- Their arms were secured by ropes of buffalo hair, and 
large splinters of oak were thrust through the flesh above the 
elbows, to indicate their contempt of death. As they ap- 
proached, singing death songs, a company of soldiers was drawn 
up and Colonel Snelling went out to meet them. A fire was 
then kindled, the British flag burned, the medal of the murder- 
er surrendered, and both prisoners delivered. The old man was 
detained as a hostage and the murderer was sent to St. Louis for 
trial. 

FIRST MILL IN MINNESOTA. 

27- During the autumn of 1821, under the supervision of 
Lieutenant McCabe, a saw mill was constructed on the west side 
of the Falls of St. Anthony, aud in 1823 it was fitted up for 
grinding flour, with one pair of mill-stones. 

FIRST STEAMBOAT ON UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 

28. The first steamboat which ascended the Mississippi river 
was called the Virginia, and was one hundred and eighteen 
feet long and twenty-two wide, of two thousand tons burthen, 
and drawing six feet of water. 

29- On May 20th the boat approached Mendota. The Sioux, 
as it neared the shore, beheld with silent astonishment, sup- 
posing that it was some enormous water spirit, coughing, puff- 
ing out hot breath, and splashing water in every direction. 
When it touched the landing their fears prevailed, and when 
the blowing off of steam began they were completely fright- 
ened, mothers with streaming hair, forgetting their children, 
sought hiding places, aud chiefs, throwing away their stoicism, 
scampered up the hills. 



22 HISTOET. 

THE NAME OF FORT SHELLING. 

30. General W infield Scott in 1824 inspected Fort Saint An- 
thony, and at his suggestion the name was changed. In his report 
he wrote: " I wish to suggest to the General in Chief, and through 
him to the War Department, the propriety of calling this work 
Fort Snelling, as a just compliment to the meritorious officer 
under whom it has been erected. The present name is foreign 
to all our associations, and is, besides, geographically incorrect, 
as the work stands at the junction of the Mississippi and Saint 
Peter (Minnesota) rivers, eight miles below the great falls of the 
Mississippi, called after Saint Anthony." 

QUESTIONS. 

When did the British agree to withdraw their troops? When was 
Indiana Territory organized? When did the United States obtain 
Louisiana ? When was Michigan Territory formed ? When did Lieut. 
Pike arrive at the mouth of the Minnesota river ? What agreement 
did he make with the Sioux ? Where did he erect a winter stockade ? 
What did he discover at Red Cedar Lake.? Where did he hoist the 
American flag? Give some particulars of Maj. Long's journey to the 
Falls of St. Anthony. When was the first regular garrison established 
in Minnesota? Describe Col. Leavenworth's journey to the mouth of 
the Minnesota river. Who was the first white woman at the Falls of 
St. Anthony? When was the corner-stone of Fort Snelling laid? Des- 
cribe the delivery of Sioux prisoners at Fort Snelling. When and 
where was the first mill erected? When did the first steamboat arrive 
at Fort Snelling? When was the name of Snelling given to the Fort? 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE APPROACH OF CITILIZ ATI0K. 

1. In the year 1836, Wisconsin Territory was organized, 
comprising all of Michigan west of the lake of that name. The 
year 1837 forms an era in the history of Minnesota, as steps 
were taken to make it the abode of white men, under law. 

2. Governor Dodge of Wisconsin, with another commissioner, 
in July of that year made a treaty with the jib ways at Fort 
Snelling, by which the land and pine forests between the Saint 
Croix and Mississippi rivers were ceded to the United States. A 
deputation of Sioux in September, at Washington, concluded a 
treaty by which they also ceded their claims to land east of the 
Mississippi river. 



MINNESOTA. N 23 

3. The sound of the woodman's axe, after this, began to be 
heard in the woods, and log cabins were erected by land claim- 
nuts at various points in the valley of the Saint Croix and the 
Mississippi. The Ojibways, finding some lumbermen before the 
treaties were ratified cutting trees at the mouth of Snake river, 
chased them ; the men fled in canoes, and reaching the Falls 
of Saint Croix, allowed their canoes to plunge over. While the 
canoes were destroyed by the waters, their lives were preserved. 

4. A few miles below the Falls, the fugitives met the first 
steamboat which ascended the St. Croix river, and learned from 
the passengers the welcome news that on June 15, 1838, the 
treaties had been ratified by the Senate of the United States. 

DEATH OF THE ARCTIC EXPLORER, SIMPSON. 

5. During the summer of 1840, a tragic and melancholy oc- 
currence took place in what is now northern Minnesota. On 
June 6th, Thomas Simpson, the youthful, educated, and indus- 
trious explorer, who had discovered and named Victoria Land, 
in the Arctic regions, departed from Fort Garry to visit Eng- 
land. He left Selkirk settlement with several persons, but, not 
wishing to follow the long route to Fort Snelling, by way of 
Lac qui Parle, he hired an old voyageur, with his son and two 
others, to go over the prairies by a shorter route. After they 
had journeyed about two days, Simpson complained of sickness, 
and said he would never recover. When the guide told him 
that there was a doctor at the Presbyterian mission, at Lac qui 
Parle, he replied: " That he did not wish a doctor." 

6. While encamped near Turtle river, as the two men and 
boy were raising the tent, Simpson suddenly seized a shot gun 
and fired at the guide and one of the men, and killed both, 
although the guide did not immediately die. The son of the 
guide and surviving man ran off to join the party who were 
proceeding to Fort Snelling, by way of Lac qui Parle. 

7. After traveling about fifty miles they found them, and 
told their sad story. Pierre Bottineau, the head of this party, 
returned with them, and as they approached the scene of the 
tragedy, they heard a gun fired. Crawling through the grass 
with great caution, they discovered Simpson stretched out, with 
one leg across the other, the butt end of his gun between his 



24 HISTOKY. 

legs, and the right hand with the glove off holding the trigger* 
It is supposed that anxiety and hardship led to mental derange- 
ment. 

EAELY WHITE SETTLEMENTS. 

8. As soon as the treaty in 1837 was made with the Ojibways 
at Fort Snelling, immigration began. In July, 1838, machinery 
arrived at the Falls of Saint Croix, where a saw mill was con- 
templated. 

9. In May, 1839, a settlement was begun at Marine Falls, and 
on August 24, 1839, the first saw mill beyond the military res- 
ervation commenced its work. 

10. Until the year 1841, the jurisdiction of Crawford county, 
Wisconsin, extended over the whole country between the Saint 
Croix and Mississippi rivers, but in November of that year Saint 
Croix county was created, and Dakota, a town projected on 
the banks of Lake Saint Croix, designated as the county seat. 

11. Stillwater, in the same vicinity, was commenced in Oc- 
tober, 1843, and a saw mill erected. 

12. In 1838, a number of persons who had built log cabins 
on the Fort Snelling reservation without authority, was Ordered 
to leave, and they made claims outside of the reservation, but as 
near as possible to the fort. The nearest place below the fort 
for a steamboat to land its freight became the nucleus of a set- 
tlement, and in 1840 a marriage ceremony was performed at that 
point by a Methodist missionary living among the Sioux Indians 
at Kaposia. In 1841, the Rev. Lucian Graltier, a traveling priest, 
determined to erect a Roman Catholic log chapel at this nearest 
point to the head of navigation, and on the 1st day of Novem- 
ber it was dedicated to Saint Paul. A few stores and groceries 
were erected, and the name of the chapel gradually became the 
designation of the whole settlement. 

13- In 1846, the Rev. T. S. Williamson, M. D., then a Pres- 
byterian missionary among* the Sioux at Kaposia, four miles 
below, described Saint Paul in these words: "The Dakotas call 
it Im-ni-ja-ska (white rock) from the color of the sand stone 
which forms the bluff on which the village stands. This village 
has five stores as they call them, at all of which intoxicating 
drinks constitute a part, and I suppose, the principal part, of 
what they sell. The village contains a dozen or twenty families 



MINNESOTA. 25 

living near enough to send to school." In 1847, the writer of 
the letter obtained the services of a lady as school teacher for 
the hamlet. 

14. After the treaties with the Indians in 1837, several claims 
were made on the east side of the Falls of Saint Anthony, and 
in 1847, a company composed of Franklin Steele, Robert Ran- 
toul, and Caleb Cushing, commenced the construction of a saw 
mill, which began to cut logs in the spring of 1848, and from the 
lumber more houses began to be erected. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was Wisconsin Territory organized ? What important treaties 
were made in 1837? Give an account of the death of the Arctic ex- 
plorer, Simpson? At what points were early white settlements? When 
was the first saw-mill completed? When was St. Croix county created? 
When did the settlement of Stillwater begin? Describe the early days 
of Saint Paul? Describe the early settlement at St. Anthony falls? 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE TERRITORY 0E MINNESOTA. 

1. On August 6, 1846, an act was passed by Congress 
authorizing the citizens of the largest part of Wisconsin Terri- 
tory to form a State government, and on December 23d, of the 
same year, Morgan L. Martin, the Wisconsin delegate in Con- 
gress, introduced a bill for the organization of the Territory of 
Minnesota. This bill was referred to the Committee on Ter- 
ritories, and on January 20, 1847, a favorable report was 
made, with the suggestion that its name should be Itasca. 
On February 17th, in a discussion upon the report, Mr. Win- 
throp, of Massachusetts, proposed the name of Chippeway for 
the new Territory; Mr. Thomson, of Mississippi, hoped that it 
would be called Jackson ; and Mr. Houston, of Delaware, wished 
it called Washington, but these names were all rejected, and 
the name in the original bill adopted. 

2. On March 3d, the bill was called up in the Senate, but 
laid upon the table. On May 29, 18^8, Wisconsin was ad- 
mitted as one of the United States. 

3. The next July a meeting was held at St. Paul, which 
proposed the calling of a convention to consider the 



26 HISTORY. 

steps proper to be taken by those citizens of the old Wisconsin 
Territory, b,eyond the boundaries of the new State of Wiscon- 
sin. 

4- The first public meeting upon the subject was held on 
August 5th, at Stillwater, and Franklin Steele and Henry H. 
Sibley were the only two persons present from the west »ide of 
the Mississippi river. This meeting issued a call for a general 
convention, to meet on the 26th of the month at the same 
place. 

5. Sixty-two delegates were present, and Henry H. Sibley 
was appointed ,to proceed to Washington and urge the imme- 
diate passage of a bill for the organization of Minnesota Ter- 
ritory, 

6. Soon after this, John H. Tweedy resigned his seat as a 
delegate to Congress from Wisconsin Territory, and John Cat- 
lin, claiming to be the acting Governor of Wisconsin Territory, 
ordered an election for a delegate to fill the vacancy, and on Oc- 
tober 30th, Henry H. Sibley was elected. His credentials were 
presented to the United States House of Representatives, and 
after some discussion, on January 15, 1849, he took his seat as 
the delegate from Wisconsin Territory. 

7. With the aid of Henry M. Rice and others, the delegate 
succeeded in having a bill passed for the organization of the 
Territory of Minnesota, with St. Paul as the capital, which, on 
March 3d, 1849, was signed by the President. 

8. The Territory was called after the largest tributary of 
the Mississippi within its limits. The Sioux called the Mis- 
souri, Minneshoshay, Muddy Water. Nicollet writes: "The- 
adjective Sotah is of difficult translation. The Canadians have* 
translated it, by a pretty equivalent word, Brouille, perhaps more 
properly rendered into English, by Blear. I have entered upon 
this explanation because the word really means neither clcr nor 
turbid, as some authors have asserted; its true meaning being 
found in the Sioux expression Ishtah Sotah, Blear eyed.-' 

9. From the fact that the word signifies neither blue nor 
white, but the peculiar appearance of the sky at certain times,. 
the missionary Gideon H. Pond and others have defined Min- 
nesota to mean sky-tinted. 



MINNESOTA. 27 

10. At the time of the creation of Minnesota Territory, the 
whole country between the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, 
north of the State of Iowa, was in possession of the Indians. 

11. At Wapashaw was a small Indian trading post, at the 
foot of Lake Pepin was a store house and steamboat landing, 
near Lake City was the post of an Indian trader, where Red 
Wing city now is was a Presbyterian mission station among the 
Sioux, at Kaposia was another. On the east side of the Mis- 
sissippi, above the Saint Croix river, was Red Rock, the residence 
of a few farmers. Saint Paul was just emerging from a collec- 
tion of whisky shops to trap the Indians, and birch-roofed cab- 
ins. Here and there a frame tenement was erected, and 
under the auspices of Henry M. Rice some warehouses were 
constructed, and the foundations of a hotel were laid. It was 
not until April 9th, more than a month after .the law creating 
Minnesota Territory had been passed, that a steamboat arrived 
at St. Paul with the news. 

12. The President of the United States appointed as Governor 
of Minnesota, Alexander Ramsey, of _Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,, 
who had for four years been a member of Congress. He arrived 
on May 27th at Mendota, and was for a few weeks the guest of 
Mr. Sibley. On June 1st, he issued a proclamation declaring 
the Territory duly organized, and on July 7th an election was 
ordered on the 1st of the next August, to elect a delegate to Con- 
gress, and members of the first legislative assembly at Saint Paul. 

13. On Monday, September 30th, the first legislature assem- 
bled in a plain wooden building called the Central House, which 
stood opposite the rear of the Pioneer Press block. 

14. The Council elected for its President, David Olmsted, a 
native of Vermont, engaged in trade with the Winnebago 
Indians at Long Prairie, and the House of Representatives chose 
for Speaker, Joseph W. Furber, a native of New Hampshire, 
and a farmer at Cottage Grove. On the afternoon of the next 
day Governor Ramsey delivered his message in the dining room 
of the hotel. 

15. The first Legislature divided that portion of Minnesota 
which had then been ceded by the Indians, into the three coun- 
ties of Washington, Ramsey, and Benton, and on the fourth 
Monday in November, the election for county officers took place. 



28 HISTORY. 

16. Until the close of the year 1849, the Mississippi river, 
after it was frozen, was used as a road for sleds bringing sup- 
plies. But late in December of that year a road was marked 
out from Prairie du Chien to Hudson, Wisconsin, on the shores 
of Lake Saint Croix, and the hauling of goods by land was com- 
menced. 

17. In the month of April, 1850, there was a renewal of hos- 
tilities between the Sioux and jib ways. A war prophet at Red 
Wing announced that he had a dream that a party should be 
formed to go against the Ojibways. Passing up the valley of 
the Saint Croix, the party discovered on the snow the marks of 
a keg, and foot-prints. Following the trail from thence, the 
Sioux found on Apple river, in Wisconsin, about twenty miles 
from Stillwater, a band of Ojibways encamped in one lodge, and 
at day-break on- April 2d, opened fire upon the unsuspecting 
inmates, who were all killed, with the exception of a lad who 
was made a prisoner. 

18. On Thursday, April 3d, upon their return to their vil- 
lages the Sioux stopped at Stillwater, and danced the scalp 
dance around the captive boy and shook in his face the scalps 
of his relatives. 

19. The boy was taken to Kaposia and adopted by the chief, 
but soon a conference was held at Governor Ramsey's house in 
Saint Paul, and the lad was delivered up to be sent back to his 
tribe. 

20. Taking advantage of the very high water of the Missis- 
sippi, in 1850, the steamboat Anthony Wayne ventured through 
the swift current and reached the Falls of Saint Anthony. The 
boat left Fort Snelling after dinner, with Governor Ramsey and 
others, and reached the Falls between three and four o'clock, and 
w r as welcomed by the citizens of Saint Anthony. 

21. A council of the Sioux and Ojibways was called by Gov- 
ernor Ramsey to assemble in June at Fort Snelling. ©n the 
eleventh of the month it assembled, and after much talking by 
the orators of each tribe, it was agreed, as it often had been 
before, that they would live in peace. 

22. On Friday, June 14th, the Ojibways embarked for their 
homes, on the " Governor Ramsey," a steamboat which, on May 
24th, had made its first trip from Saint Anthony to Sauk 
Rapids. 



MINNESOTA. 29 

23- The summer of 1850 was the beginning of steamboat nav- 
igation on the Minnesota river. With the exception of a 
steamer that, in 1842, had made a pleasure excursion as far as 
Shakopee, no large vessel had disturbed the waters of this 
stream. 

24. In June, the " Anthony Wayne " made a trip to the 
first rapids of the Minnesota, about sixty-five miles from its 
mouth. Soon after, the " Nominee" went beyond this 
point, and on July 18th, the "Anthony Wayne" made a 
second trip, and reached the vicinity of Traverse des Sioux. On 
July 22d, the " Yankee," Captain Harris, left St. Paul, and on 
Wednesday, the 23d, about 10 o'clock in the morning, reached 
the mouth of the Blue Earth river, and by night had ascended 
as far as the Cottonwood river. 

25*. In the month of September there was an election for 
delegate to Congress, and Henry H. Sibley received 649, and 
his opponent, A. M. Mitchell, 559 votes. 

26. The next month, the distinguished novelist of Sweden, 
Fredrika Bremer, visited Minnesota, and in her book of 
travels she writes of the capital, St. Paul : " The city is 
thronged with Indians. The men for the most part go about,, 
generally ornamented with naked hatchets, the shafts of which 
serve them as pipes. They paint themselves so utterly without 
taste, that it is incredible." 

27- The second legislature of the Territory assembled on 
January 1, 1851, and David B. Loomis was elected President of 
the Council, and M. E. Ames, Speaker of the House of Represen- 
tatives. 

28. About the middle of May a Sioux war party discovered 
near Swan river an Ojibway with a keg of whisky, who escaped, 
but left his keg. The Sioux, drinking its contents, became 
intoxicated, and fired upon some teamsters who were driving 
their wagons with goods to the Winnebago agency, and killed 
one. 

29. Five of the offenders were arrested and placed in the 
guard-house at Fort Snelling, and on June 8th, they were sent 
with a guard of twenty-five dragoons for trial at Sauk Rapids. 

30- As they were driven out of the fort, they sang their 
death song, and the coarse soldiers amused themselves by mak- 



30 HISTOBY. 

ing signs that they were to be hung. On the first even- 
ing of the journey the five Indians were handcuffed and placed 
in a tent, but at midnight all escaped, one being wounded by 
the guard, and, what was remarkable, the wounded Sioux was 
the first to bring the news to St. Paul. Proceeding to Kaposia, 
his wound was there examined by the medical missionary, Dr. 
Williamson, and, fearing an arrest, the Indian then in a canoe 
ascended the Minnesota river. 

■31. The most important events of the year 1851, were the 
treaties with the Sioux, by which the west side of the Missis- 
sippi river was opened to hardy immigrants. The commissioners 
on the part of the United States were Luke Lea. United States 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and Governor Alexander Ram- 
sey. 

32. The commissioners met the upper bands of Sioux at 
Traverse des Sioux, and on July 23d, the Sisseton and Wahpay- 
ton Sioux ceded all their lauds east of Sioux river and Lake 
Traverse. 

33. During the first week in August, another treaty was con- 
cluded on Pilot Knob, Mendota, with the Wahpaykootay and 
Meddaywahkantoan Sioux, who yielded all their, lands in Min- 
nesota. 

34- Governor Ramsey, upon August 18th, with an escort of 
twenty-five dragoons, under Lieutenant Corley, proceeded to 
Pembina, and made a treaty with the Chippewas, or Ojibways, in 
which they ceded lands on both sides of the Red river of the 
North. 

35. The third Territorial legislature convened on January 7, 
1852, and William H. Forbes was chosen President of the Coun- 
cil, and John D. Ludden, Speaker of the House. 

' 36. An important liquor law was passed similar in its pro- 
visions to what is known as the Maine Liquor Law, subject to a 
vote of the people, on the first Monday in April. The election 
interested all classes of citizens, and 853 voted for, while 662 
were against the law. When it was known, about 9 o'clock at 
night, that Ramsey county had voted for the law, all the church 
bells at the capital rang out joyful peals. 

3*7. But the commissioners of Ramsey county construed that 
portion of the law to be of no effect which prohibited the granl- 



MINNESOTA. 



31 



ing of licenses after the first of the next May. Acting under the 
law, a justice of the peace at St. Anthony seized and destroyed 
a quantity of liquor, and fined the holder thereof. 

38. Appeal was made to the District Court, and Judge Hay- 
ner decided that the legislative power was vested by the organic 
act in the Governor and Legislative assembly, that they had 
no power to delegate their authority to the people, and that con- 
sequently the act restricting the sale of intoxicating liquors was 
null and void. 

39. The fourth territorial Legislature convened on January 5, 
1853; Martin McLeod was chosen President of the Council, 
and David Day, Speaker of the House. Governor Ramsey 
alluded in his message to the changes in three years and six 
months. When he came in 1849, he said that " not far from 
where we now are, were a dozen frame houses and some eight 
or ten small log buildings with bark roofs," he thought that 
in ten more years Minnesota would be a State, and that in ten 
more years a half million people were not extravagant predic- 
tions. Time has shown the correctness of his views. 

40. A bill came before the Legislature of this year, which 
contemplated the support of sectarian schools by the public 
school funds, and led to considerable discussion, but the House 
refused to order the bill to be read a third time, by a large vote. 

41. This Legislature incorporated also the Baldwin school, 
now the preparatory department of Macalester College, which 
was opened the following June, supported by private munificence, 
and in December completed the first building for literary pur- 
poses in Minnesota, not in connection with the public school 
system. 

42. After the inauguration of Franklin Pierce as President 
of the United States, Willis A. Gorman, who had been Colonel 
of an Indiana regiment in the Mexican war, and subsequently 
a member of Congress for four years from that State, was 
appointed by the President, Governor of Minnesota Territory. 

43. At an election held in October, 1853, Henry M. Rice was 
chosen delegate to Congress by a large majority. 

44. The fifth legislative assembly convened in the Capitol, 
just completed, on January 4, 1854, and S. B. Olmstead was 
elected President of the Council, and N. C. D. Taylor, Speaker 
of the House. 



32 , HISTORY. 

45. Governor Gorman delivered his first message, and urged 
the importance of railway communications. The exciting bill 
of the session was for the incorporation of the Minnesota and 
Northwestern Railroad Company, which was passed after mid- 
night on the last day of the session, and contrary to expectation 
signed by the Governor. 

46. The sixth Legislature assembled on January 3d, and Wil- 
liam P. Murray was chosen President of the Council and James 
S. Norris, Speaker of the House. 

47. This Legislature adjourned one day, to visit the wire sus- 
pension bridge completed at the Falls of St. Anthony, the first 
bridge thrown across the Mississippi, from Lake Itasca to the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

48. The seventh territorial Legislature assembled on January 
2,1856; John B. Brisbin was elected President of the Coun- 
cil, and Charles Gardiner, Speaker of the House. The procure- 
ment of State organization, and a grant of lands for railroad 
purposes were this year the topics of political interest. 

49. The eighth Legislature convened on January 7, 1857, and 
John B. Brisbin was President of the Council, and Joseph W. 
Furber, Speaker of the House. Great excitement prevailed this 
session, relative to the proposed removal of the capital to Saint 
Peter. 

INKPADOOTAH MASSACEE. 

50. During the spring of 1857, the public mind was indig- 
nant at an atrocity perpetrated in southwestern Minnesota. For 
several years Inkpadootah, who belonged to Wahpaykootay 
Sioux, had been roving with a few other outlaw Indians. 

51. On March 8th, he and his followers reached Spirit Lake, 
near the Minnesota boundary line, went to a cabin and 
asked for beef, andbeing refused, killed one of the cattle. 

52. One of the white men knocked down the Indian who 
was cutting up the dead animal for food, and. for this he was 
shot. Another person coming out of the cabin was also killed 
by the Indians, who then fired the building, and as the other 
inmates ran out, killed them. 

53. They also proceeded to the house of a settler named 
Gardner, where they received the food which they demanded. 



MINNESOTA. 33 

The son-in-law of Gardner, and another man went to see if all 
was right at another cabin, but they never returned. 

54. Toward night, excited by the murders they had committed 
during the day, the Indians came back to Gardner's house, killed 
him, his wife, two daughters and grand-children, and carried off 
Abby, the surviving daughter. 

55. The next day they continued their fiendish work, and 
carried off as prisoners a Mrs. Thatcher and Mrs. Noble. 

56. This day, a man by the name of Markham visited the 
Gardner house, and was surprised to find his friends mutilated 
and dead. Travelling by night he reached Springfield settle- 
ment in Min^sota, and gave the alarm. 

57. Three miles from the Thatcher family, on the bank of 
Spirit Lake, on March 12th, an Indian who had been on friendly 
terms, called upon a Mr. Marble and said the white people below 
had been killed. The next day four Indians arrived and pro- 
posed to exchange guns with Marble. After the trade the 
chief Indian suggested that they should go and shoot at a 
mark. 

58. Marble assented, and his wife, who was looking out of 
the house, saw the Indians a few paces distant shoot her hus- 
band. They then seized her and carried her to the camp where 
was Mrs. Noble, Mrs. Thatcher, and Miss Gardner. 

59- Inkpadootah and his party then went to Springfield, 
Minnesota, and killed all the settlers. When the news reached 
Fort Ridgely, troops were sent to the scene of the murders, and 
the dead were buried, but they did not find the hostile Sioux. 

60. The Indians fled westward, and the four women captives 
were forced to carry heavy burdens, to cut wood, and were sub- 
jected to great indignities. Mrs. Thatcher was in poor health 
and a slow traveler, and while attempting to cross a stream on 
a tree, an Indian pushed her off, and others fired at her until life 

» was extinct. 

61. Early in the month of May, two young Sioux from Lac- 
qui-parle, whose mother was a member of the Presbyterian 
mission church there, while on their spring hunt found them- 
selves in the neighborhood of Inkpadootah's camp. These 
brothers visited the camp and succeeded in bargaining for Mrs. 
Marble, and brought her, about May 21st, to Yellow Medicine, 



34 HISTOEY. 

where she was properly clothed by the Presbyterian mission- 
aries. From thence she was taken to St. Paul, and there one 
thousand dollars was contributed by the citizens for her use. 

62. The desire among the whites to rescue the other two 
women was very great. One night a good Sioux, Paul Maza 
Kootamanee, an elder in the mission church, wrote to the 
Indian agent, and said he was ready to make an effort to rescue 
the captives. The agent urged him to go, and with Other Day 
and another Sioux, he started the next day with a wagon and 
two horses, and valuable presents 

63. On May 29th, they found the dead body of Mrs. Nobles, 
who had been dragged out of a tent by the hair, and killed by 
Inkpadootah's son. The next day they came to an encampment 
of Yanktons, and learned that Miss Gardner had been sold to a 
Yankton chief. By perseverance, and large presents, she was 
surrendered, and her rescuers brought her down to the Indian 
agency, and from thence she was brought to St, Paul, and sent 
to her sister in Iowa. 

QUESTIONS. 
When was a bill passed to organize Minnesota Territory ? Mention 
some names that were proposed for the Territory ? When was a conven- 
tion of citizens held relative to the organization of Minnesota Territory ? 
When was the law passed creating Minnesota Territory ? What does 
the word Minnesota mean ? What settlements upon the Mississippi in 
the spring of 1849? When did the news of the law creating Minnesota 
Territory reach Saint Paul? Who was the first Governor? When and 
where did the first Legislature assemble? What counties were created? 
What is said of early roads ? Give an account of an Indian fight on 
Apple river? What was done with a captive boy? What steamboat 
in 1850 went to Falls of Saint Anthony? What steamboat ascended 
the Minnesota river? Give the name of the first steamboat above the 
Falls of Saint Anthony ? Who, in 1850, was elected delegate to Con- 
gress? What novelist, in 1850, visited Minnesota? Mention the pre- 
siding officers of second territorial legislature? Give an account of a 
Sioux war party? What important treaties were -concluded in 1857? 
Who were the presiding officers of the third territorial legislature? 
Give an account of a liquor law passed in 1852 ? Mention some of the 
acts of the fourth territorial legislature? Who was appointed Governor 
by President Pierce? Who, in 1853, was elected delegate to Congress? 
What is said of a suspension bridge at Falls of Saint Anthony ? Give 
an account of the Inkpadootah massacre? 



MINNESOTA. 35 

CHAPTER VIII. 

STEPS PRELIMINARY TO MINNESOTA BECOMING ONE OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

1. On February 28, 1857, an act of Congress was signed by 
the President authorizing the inhabitants of that portion of 
Minnesota Territory east of the Red River of the North, Lake 
Traverse, Big Stone Lake, and a line from the outlet of the 
latter due south to the north boundary of Iowa, to form a con- 
stitution and State government preparatory to their admis- 
sion into the Union, or on equal footing with the original 
States. 

2. At the close of the same session of Congress, another act 
was passed making a grant of land in alternate sections, to aid 
in the construction of certain Minnesota railroads. 

3. On April 27th, a special session of the legislature was con- 
vened by Governor Samuel Medary, recently appointed by the 
President in the place of Willis A. Gorman, whose term had 
expired. 

4. The extra session adjourned on May 23d, and provision 
was made in accordance with the enabling act of Congress, for 
an election to be held on the first Monday in June, to choose 
delegates to a convention to form a State constitution, which 
was to meet on the second Monday of the next July. 

5. The election was duly held, and at midnight of July 12th 
the Republican members proceeded to the capitol, because the 
enabling act had not specified at what hour of the second Mon- 
day of July the convention should assemble, and fearing that 
the delegates of the Democratic party might anticipate them 
and elect the officers. 

6. A little before 12 A. M., on July 13th, the Secretary of 
the Territory, in sympathy with the Democratic party, stood 
upon the speaker's rostrum and began to call the convention to 
•order, and at the same time, a delegate, John W. North, who 
had in his possession a written request from a majority of the 
delegates present, proceeded to do the same thing. 

7. The Secretary of the Territory put a motion to adjourn, 
and the Democratic members, after voting in the affirmative, left 
the hall. The Republicans remained, organized, and proceeded 



^V HISTOEY. 

with the business specified in the enabling act of Congress. 
After a few days the Democratic members organized in the same 
chamber, at the capitol, and claiming to be the lawful body, also 
proceeded to frame a constitution. The proceedings of each 
party were characterized by decorum and intelligence. 

8- After they had been in session several weeks, the advice of 
moderate men prevailed, and a committee of conference was. 
appointed from each party, which deliberation resulted in 
both sections adopting, on August 29$i, the constitution formed 
by the Democratic wing of the convention. 

9- On the second Tuesday, November 13th, in accordance 
with the State constitution, an election was held for its ratifica- 
tion by the people, and for State officers. 

10- The constitution was adopted almost unanimously, but 
the election for State officers was spirited. Henry H. Sibley, 
the Democratic candidate for Governor, received 17,790 votes, 
while 17,550 were cast for Alexander Ramsey, the Republican 
candidate. 

11. The constitution provided that the Territorial officers 
should hold office until the State was formally admitted into 
the Union. 

12- The first session of the legislature, under the new con- 
stitution, assembled on the first Wednesday in December, at Sainfc 
Paul, and Richard Gr. Murphy was chosen President of the 
Senate, and J. S. Watrous, Speaker of the House. 

13- During the month of December, Henry M. Rice and 
James Shields were chosen as the representatives of Minnesota 
in the United States Senate, the former served for the six years 
term, the latter for two years. 

14- On January 29, 1858, Mr. Douglas submitted a bill to the 
United States Senate, for the admission of Minnesota into the 
Union, and" on April 7th it passed the Senate, there being only 
three dissenting votes. The House of Representatives, at a later 
period, voted on the bill, and 158, out of 196 votes, were in its 
favor. On May 11th, the President approved the act, and Min- 
nesota was enrolled as one of the United States of America. 

QUESTIONS. 

When was the law passed to enable a portion of the inhabitants of 
Minnesota to form a constitution? When did a special session of the 



MINNESOTA. 37 

Legislature meet? Who was then the Governor? When did the consti- 
tutional convention meet? Give the history of its organization? When 
did they finish their labors? Who was elected first State Governor? 
Who was the first United States Senator for six years? Who was 
United States Senator for two years? When did the President sign the 
bill to admit Minnesota as one of the United States ? 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 

1. After the admission of Minnesota into the Union, the 
Legislature, which had taken a recess on March 25, 1858, on June 
2d re-assembled, and did not adjourn until August 12th. 

2. The transition of Minnesota from territorial dependence 
to the dignity and privileges of a State, was at the period when 
the whole Republic was suffering from financial embarrassment, 
and there was but little immigration. 

3. During the winter of 1858-59 there was no session of the 
Legislature, and in the fall of this year, Alexander Ramsey, who 
had been the first Territorial Governor, was elected Governor of 
the State. 

. 4. The second State Legislature assembled on December 7, 
1859, and Lieutenant Gov. Holcombe, on. account of his office, 
was President until January 2d, when he was succeeded by 
Lieutenant Gov. Ignatius Donnelly. Amos Coggswell of Steele 
county was elected Speaker of the House. Governor Ramsey, 
on' January 2, 1860, delivered his inaugural message, which was 
largely devoted to the financial distress which prevailed. 

5« By the United States census of 1860 it was shown that 
there had been in ten years a decided increase in the population, 
wealth, and agricultural interests of the State. While the census 
of 1850 gave a population of 6,077; that%of 1860, showed 172,- 
023 persons. 

6- On Monday, March 23, 1860, the first white person executed 
under the laws of the State, was hung, and from the fact that 
the one who suffered was a woman, the execution of the law 
attracted considerable attention. She had been found guilty of 
killing her husband, by poison, and the scaffold was erected in 
Saint Paul, near the county jail. 



38 HISTORY. 

7. The third State Legislature assembled on January 8, 1861 y 
and Governor Ramsey in his annual message occupied several 
pages in an able and elaborate argument as to the best method 
of guarding and selling the school lands, and protecting the 
school fund. The comprehensive views set forth made a deep 
impression, and was embodied in appropriate legislation. 

9. The people of Minnesota had not been as excited as those 
of the Atlantic States relatiye to the questions that were dis- 
cussed as to the extension of slavery, in free territory, and a 
majority had calmly expressed their preference for Abraham 
Lincoln as President of the Republic. 

10. But the blood of her quiet and intelligent population was 
stirred on the morning of April 14, 1861, by the intelligence 
communicated that the insurgents of South Carolina had bom- 
barded, and the day before compelled the evacuation of Fort 
Sumter. 

11. Governor Ramsey was in Washington at the time, and 
was the first of the State Governors to tender the services of 
the people he represented, in the defense of the Republic. 

12. By May 11th, a regiment with ex-Governor Gorman, 
Colonel, was mustered in at Fort Snelling, for three years or 
during the war. 

13. On May 21st, after a brief address from its chaplain, the 
regiment left Fort Snelling for the seat of war. 

14. Before 8 o'clock in the morning the troops arrived in two 
steamers, at Saint Paul, and leaving the boats at Eagle street 
amid tears and cheers of hundreds marched through the city and 
re-embarked at the foot of Jackson street. 

15. After remaining a few days at Washington, the regi- 
ment was ordered to cross the Potomac, and until July 16th 
encamped in the suburbs of Alexandria, then began a march 
toward the field of battle. 

16. On Sunday, before sunrise, the regiment, which belonged 
to Franklin's Brigade of Heintzelman's division, left Centre- 
ville, and by a circuitous route through the woods, reached the 
vicinity of the enemy about 11 o'clock in the morning. 

17. Fording a small brook, and passing Sudley church, the 
regiment soon entered upon the field of battle. In the engage- 
ment known as the battle of Bull Run, it moved to the support of 



MINNESOTA. 39 

« 

Rickett's battery, and was so near the enemy's lines that friends 
and foes did not distinguish each other. The First Regiment was 
the only one from Minnesota that belonged to the army of the 
Potomac, and engaged in protecting Washington. 

18. Before the close of the year, the Second Regiment, whose 
Colonel was Horatio Van Cleve, a graduate of West Point, left 
the State, and was attached to the army of the Ohio, and also 
the Third Regiment, which proceeded to Tennessee. 

19. During the fall of 1861, Alexander Ramsey was re-elected 
Governor. The fourth State Legislature assembled on January 
7, 1S62, and in March incorporated the Saint Paul and Pacific 
railroad, assigning to its directors the franchises of a company 
chartered in 1857, as the Minnesota and Pacific railroad company. 

20. A contract was made for the construction of ten miles to 
Saint Anthony, now the east division of the city of Minneapolis, 
and on June 28, 1862, at the hour when the citizens were filled 
with anxiety by the telegraphic news that the First Regiment 
was engaged in what is known as the u Seven Days 1 Battle," the 
first locomotive in Minnesota with a train of passenger cars left 
Saint Paul for Saint Anthony. 

21. It was an important event, as a beginning of a system of 
railways which in twenty years has spread an iron net over the 
State, and greatly increased its prosperity. 

QUESTIONS. 

State the condition of affairs, when Minnesota became a State ? Who 
was elected«Governor in the fall of 1859? Give the census of popula- 
tion in 1850 and in 1860? What is said about the school fund? State 
the impression created by the firing upon Fort Sumter? Who offered 
the First Regiment of the State volunteers to the President? Who 
was Colonel of the First Minnesota Regiment? When did it leave for 
the seat of war? Give an account of its position in the battle of Bull 
Run? What other regiments in 1861 were sent to the seat of war by 
Minnesota ? 



40 



HISTORY. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SIOUX MASSACRE. 

1. In 1862 the most terrible massacre of whites "by Indians, 
in the history of North America, occurred in Minnesota. 

2. By the treaties of 1851 with the Sioux, a strip of land on 
both sides of the Upper Minnesota river more than one hundred 
miles in length and twenty in width was reserved for their occu- 
pancy, but by a treaty made in 1858, the United States purchased 
the portion of the reservation on the north side of the river. 

3. Fourteen miles above Fort Ridgely, on the Minnesota river, 
there was the Lower or Red Wood Agency of the United States 
for these Indians, and at the mouth of the Yellow Medicine 
river was another agency for the upper bands of Sioux. 

4. A few miles above the Yellow Medicine was the Presby- 
terian mission in charge of the veteran missionaries, Rev. T. S. 
Williamson, M. D., and Rev S. R. Riggs, L.L. D. 

5- The Sioux had during the summer shown dissatisfaction 
with the agent and traders, and had noticed that nearly all the 
able bodied young white men had enlisted in regiments to sup- 
press the rebellion of the Southern States. 

6. On August 4th, some Sioux who came from Big Stone 
lake, in the presence of one hundred soldiers determined to break 
into the government warehouse at Yellow Medicine, and the 
United States flag was cut down. By giving them a large 
amount of provisions, they were persuaded to return. At the 
Lower agency there were also evidences of evil designs. 

7. On Sunday, August 17th, a secret council was held at Rice 
creek above the Red Wood agency, and it was determined to 
attack the whites. On the same day Indians had killed whites 
at Acton. Early on Monday morning, under the leadership of 
Little Crow, a chief who before the treaties had lived at a village 
four miles below Saint Paul, an attack was made upon the stores 
and buildings at the Red Wood agency. In a short time many 
were killed. During the day farm houses for miles below the 
agency were attacked, and men, women, and children shot and 
scalped. 

8. Before noon the news of the massacre reached Fort Ridgely, 
and Captain Marsh of the Fifth Regiment of Minnesota, volun- 



MINNESOTA. 41 

~teers, with forty-eight men, started in wagons for Red Wood, 
taking with him the old interpreter Quinn. 

9. When four miles from the ferry at the Lower agency he 
was told that the Indians were in large force, and advised to be 
cautious. On the road were seen many dead bodies, and about 
sunset he reached the ferry. 

10. Through his interpreter he conversed with the Sioux on 
the opposite side of the stream, and while thus engaged, hostile 
Indians were crawling through the tall grass to reach his rear. 
After consulting with his men he deemed it important to cross 
-on the ferry-boat, and as he turned away the Indians fired, and 
more than half of his men fell mortally wounded, the interpreter 
among the number. 

11. Captain Marsh with several of his men retreated down 
the river about two miles, and to evade the Indians began to ford 
the stream. He failed to reach the other side alive, but those 
with him escaped. 

12. A party of Sioux proceeded to New Ulm twenty-eight 
miles above Saint Peter, and began to burn the buildings on the 
outskirts and kill the inhabitants, but a company of volunteers 
from Saint Peter, under Judge Flandrau, arrived in the night, 
and the next day men came from Mankato and Le Sueur. 

13. The Indians who had been at New Ulm joined Little 
Crow, and on Wednesday the 23d, attacked Fort Ridgely and 
fought from 3 o'clock until dark and retired. On Friday they 
appeared again in greater numbers and fired the outbuildings, 
but were repulsed. 

14- On Sunday they appeared the second time at New Ulm, 
and there was a fierce conflict, in which Captain Dodd of Saint 
Peter was killed, and Captain Saunders, a Baptist minister, was 
wounded. The whites stood firm, and the Indians retreated, but 
only twenty-.: ve of over two hundred buildings remained stand- 
ing, and on Monday its citizens sought shelter at Mankato. 

15. On the morning of August 19th, a messenger from Gal- 
braith the Sioux agent, after riding all night, arrived at the 
capitol in Saint Paul with a dispatch for Governor Ramsey, 
calling for aid, and soon another carrier came in bringing the 
news of murders committed by the Sioux at Acton. 

16. The Governor immediately proceeded to Fort Snelling, 



42 HISTORY. 

and by night four companies were sent off, and arrangements 
made for others, and Henry H. Sibley, long acquainted with the* 
Sioux, was made Colonel of the expedition. 

17. On August 20th, Colonel Sibley with four hundred men 
of the Sixth Minnesota Regiment left Fort Snelling, but were 
detained several days at Saint Peter in swedging balls to fit their 
rifles. Here other troops arrived, and the whole force reached 
Fort Ridgely without disaster. 

18. About two hundred men under Major Brown were sent 
to bury the dead at Red Wood and other points, and on Monday 
evening had encamped at Birch Coolie, a dry wooded ravine 
which led to the Minnesota river. At dawn on September 2d 
they were attacked by the Sioux, and after a fight of three hours 
twenty-three men were killed or mortally wounded, forty-five 
disabled, and all the horses but one lost. 

19 The noise of the guns was heard at the main camp, and 
Colonel Sibley marched to the spot and relieved the survivors. 

20. After this Little Crow and others entered into a corres- 
pondence with Colonel Sibley relative to the delivery of the 
captured white persons. 

21. On September 18th, the troops under Colonel Sibley left 
Fort Ridgely, and the next day they found and buried the remains 
of Philander Prescott, the old interpreter and government 
farmer, who in 1819 had come to Fort Snelling. 

22. On the morning of the 22d, near Wood Lake, and about 
three miles from Yellow Medicine river, hostile Indians concealed 
in the grass, opened fire. A battle ensued, and after more than 
an hour's fighting, the Indians fled. 

23. The troops then marched for the Indian camp near Lac 
qui Parle, and on the 26th found it nearly opposite the mouth 
of the Chippeway river. The troops encamped about a quarter of 
a mile from the Indians, and Colonel Sibley and staff rode over 
and took possession, and two hundred and fifty white captives 
were delivered, who wept with joy at their release. 

24. During the massacre about six hundred and fifty men,, 
women, and children were slaughtered, and about one hundred 
soldiers were killed in battle by the Sioux. The campaign for the 
year now closed, and after the examinations of a military com- 
mission were completed, the troops came down to Mankato. 



MINNESOTA. 43 

25. The President of the United States ordered a certain 
number of the Siaux who had been tried by the Military Court 
to be executed. 

26. On February 23, 1863, the thirty-eight who were to 
suffer the penalty of the law, were marched to the scaffold erected 
at Mankato, and at a signal the trap fell, and all the condemned 
at once dangled in the air. 

27. Not many months after this, the Sioux and Winnebagoes 
were removed from the pleasant reservations they had occupied, 
and now white settlers inhabit the country. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where did the Sioux in Minnesota live in 1862? When did they 
attack the white settlers? Who was the leader of the hostile Sioux? 
What is said of Captain Marsh? Give an account of the attack on 
New Ulm and Fort Ridgely? What is said of Colonel Sibley's com- 
mand? Describe the conflicts at Birch Coolie and Wood Lake? How 
many captives were rescued? How many whites were massacred ? How 
many Sioux were hung ? 



CHAPTER XL 

MINNESOTA AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 

1. During the war for the suppression of the Rebellion in the 
slave-holding States of the Union, Minnesota furnished eleven 
regiaients of infantry, three batteries of artillery, several com 
panies of cavalry, and two companies of sharp-shooters. 

2. After the survivors were discharged, in 1865, they returned 
to their farms, stores, and workshops, and prosperity began 
again to dawn in Minnesota, and immigration which had been 
checked by the Sioux massacre once more commenced to flow 
into the valley of the Minnesota river, and over the whole State. 

3. Governor Ramsey delivered the annual message before the 
fifth State Legislature which convened on January 7, 1863, but 
during the session was elected to supply the vacancy about 
to take place in the United States Senate, by the expiration of 
the term of office of Henry M. Rice, who had represented Min- 
nesota in that body from the time it became one of the United 
States. 



44 HISTORY. 

4. By this election, Henry A. Swift, the Lieutenant Governor, 
became the Governor by a provision in the constitution, and held 
office until January 11, 1864, when Stephen Miller, ex-Colonel of 
the Seventh Minnesota Regiment and Brigadier General of 
volunteers, who had been elected Governor in the fall of 1868, 
entered upon the duties of the office. 

5. During his administration, the Sioux chief Shakopee, or 
Little Six, and Medicine Bottle, were tried at Fort Snelling for 
participating in the massacre of 1862, and found guilty. 

6. On November 10, 1865, they were hung at Fort Snelling. 
It is said that when the first locomotive passed on the railway 
just beneath the walls of the Fort, Shakopee pointed to it from 
his prison window and said: "There! that is what has driven 
the Sioux away." 

7. William R. Marshall, who came to Minnesota in 1847, and 
had succeeded Miller in the Colonelcy of the Seventh Regiment, 
also became his successor as Governor in January, 1866, and 
served until 1870, two terms. 

8. Notwithstanding the exodus caused by the civil war and 
Indian hostilities, the census of 1870 showed a considerable 
increase in population and wealth over that of 1860. 

9. While in 1860 there were 172,203 persons; in 1870, 439,- 
706 were living in the State. In 1862 there were only ten miles 
of railway completed, while at the close of 1870 there were 
nearly eleven hundred miles of railway within the State. 

10. In January, 1870, Horace Austin, who had been Judge 
of the Sixth Judicial District, entered upon his duties as Gov- 
ernor, and served two terms, or four years. „ 

11. On January 9, 1874, Cushman K. Davis, of Saint Paul, 
delivered his first message as Governor, and served for two years. 
During his administration the question of the power of the 
State to regulate the rates of railroad companies was discussed, 
and an amendment to the constitution was passed by which 
women could vote for school officers and upon measures relating 
to schools, 

12. In the summer of 1873, there appeared in the south- 
western portion of Minnesota, the Rocky Mountain locusts, 
drawn eastward by the want of grass on the plains of the Upper 
Missouri. This army of short, stout-legged grasshoppers, 



MINNESOTA. 45 

devoured nearly all the crops in several counties. The legisla- 
ture of 1874 voted five thousand dollars for the purchase of seed 
grain. In the spring the settlers planted, but as the crops came 
up, millions of locusts were hatched from the eggs deposited the 
year before, which ate every green thing, and once more the 
farmers were left destitute. 

13. The legislature of 1875 appropriated twenty thousand 
dollars for relief, and seventy-two thousand dollars for the pur- 
chase of seed. These pests kept the farmers in fear until the 
summer of 1877, when they ceased to appear in numbers suffici- 
ent to imperil the crops. 

14- At the election in November, 1875, John S. Pillsbury of 
Minneapolis, was chosen Governor, and on January 7, 1876, he 
delivered his first message. He is the only person who has been 
elected for three successive terms. During his administration 
of six years many measures of importance were adopted, and 
the steps were taken by which the State redeemed its honor, in 
the liquidation of certain railroad bonds which had been issued 
under the great seal many years before. 

15. On the night of November 15, 1880, the north wing of 
the State Insane Asylum at Saint Peter was destroyed by fire, 
supposed to have been kindled in the cellar by a patient employed 
in the kitchen. The wing contained about two hundred and 
seventy insane, and as they were liberated made their escape; 
some clapped their hands in glee at the sight of the rapidly 
spreading flames, while others trembled as an aspen leaf and 
rushed with bare heads and bare feet over the snow. Between 
twenty and thirty were burned in the building, or died of exposure. 

16. About 9 o'clock on the evening of March 1, 1881, the 
State Capitol was discovered to be on fire, by two gentlemen who 
lived on the opposite side of the street. Both houses of the 
Legislature were in session, and soon the flash was seen of flames 
breaking through the gallery of the Senate chamber, and the 
Senators were obliged to make their escape through a small win- 
dow of the cloak room. 

17. The hall of the House of Representatives was soon in 
flames, and the members escaped as quickly as possible. The Law 
Library was destroyed, and in a few hours the whole building 
was a mass of ruins. 



46 HISTOKT. 

18. A new building has arisen on the site, and in it the 
Legislature of 1883 assembled. It is in the form of a Greek 
cross, and its external and internal appearance is tasteful. The 
Senate chamber is forty by fifty-one feet in size, and that of the 
House of Representatives is forty-four by eighty-five feet. The 
rooms for the Governor and other State officers, the Supreme 
Court, and Law Library, are convenient and well furnished. 
The tower of the edifice is seen from a distance, and is to be 
surmounted by a dome. 

QUESTIONS. 

Who was elected United States Senator in 1863? Give the names of 
the State Governors? When were two Sioux chiefs hung at Fort Snel- 
ling ? What is said of Rocky Mountain locusts ? When was a part of 
State Insane Asylum burned? When was the State capitol destroyed. 



CHAPTER XII. 

BRIEF NOTICES OF GOVERNORS AND CONGRESSMEN. 
TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS. 

1 . Alexander Ramsey, first Governor of the Territory of 
Minnesota, was born on September 8, 1815, near Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania. His grandfather came from Ireland before the 
" War for Independence." His father was born in York county, 
Pennsylvania, and his mother, Elizabeth Kelker, was of German 
descent. 

2. As a boy he was employed in the store of his maternal 
uncle, and then was & copyist in the office of Register of Deeds 
of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania At the age of eighteen he 
entered Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, but left before 
he received the degree of A. B., aud entered a lawyer's office at 
Harrisburg. At the age of twenty-four, in 1839, he was 
admitted to the bar of Dauphin county. In 1841 he was chief 
clerk of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In 1843 
he was elected by his congressional district to the United States 
House of Representatives, and in 1845, re-elected. 

3. In 1849 he was nominated by President Taylor, and con- 
firmed by the Senate, Governor of Minnesota Territory, and for 
four years filled the office. 



MINNESOTA. 



47 



4. In 1855 he was chosen mayor of Saint Paul. In 1859 
he was chosen Governor of the State of Minnesota, and re- 
elected in 1861, and continued in office until, in 1863, he was 
elected United States Senator. 

5, In 1^69 he was re-elected to the United States Senate, 
and in 1880 was appointed by President Hayes, Secretary of 
War, and is now, in 1883, chairman of the Utah Commission. 

6- Willis A. Gorman was born in January, 1816, near 
Flemmgsburgh, Kentucky, and in 1836 graduated at the law 
department of the Indiana State University. 

7. He was major, of the Third Indiana Regiment in the 
Mexican war. His horse was shot in the battle of Buena 
Vista, and fell upon him, inflicting severe bruises. In August, 
1847, he returned to Indiana, was made Colonel of the Fourth 
Regiment, and returned to the seat of war. 

8. In 1848 he was elected a member of Congress from 
Indiana, and served two terms. A^ter the inauguration of 
Franklin Pierce as President of the United States, with whom 
he had served in Mexico, he was, in 1853, commissioned as 
Governor of the Territory of Minnesota, and held the office four 
years. In 1857 he was a prominent member of the convention 
to form a State Constitution. After the firing upon Fort 
Sumter, in 1861, he offered his services to Governor Ramsey, and 
was commissioned Colonel of the First Regiment Minnesota 
Volunteers. 

9. At the battle of Bull Run, in July, 1861, his regiment 
was the advance of Franklin's brigade in Heintzelman's division, 
and acquitted itself with honor. Upon the recommendation of 
General Winfield Scott, who had known him in Mexico, he was 
nominated by President Lincoln, and confirmed as Brigadier- 
General of Volunteers. 

10- After three years of military service he was mustered 
out, and returning to Saint Paul, resumed the practice of his 
professsion, and held the office of city attorney. On the after- 
noon of May 25, 1876, he died. 

1 1 . Samuel Medary was born in the vicinity of Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania, and at the time of his appointment, in 1857, 
by the President as Governor of Minnesota, he was a prominent 
editor at Columbus, Ohio. 



48 H1ST0EY. 

12. As Minnesota soon became a State, he remained here- 
but a few months. 

STATE GOVERNORS. 

"13. Henry H. Sibley, the first Governor under the State 
Constitution, was born in Detroit in February, 1811, and was 
the son of Judge Sibley, the first delegate to Congress from 
Michigan. 

14- At the age of seventeen he was employed at Mackinaw, 
as clerk, by Robert Stuart of the American Fur Company. 

15- In 1834 he was placed in charge of the Indian trade 
above Lake Pepin, with head quarters at the mouth of the Min- 
nesota river. 

16. In 1836, he built the first stone residence in Minnesota", 
beyond the military buildings, at Mendota. 

17. On October 30, 1848, he was elected delegate of Wis- 
consin Territory to Congress, and in 1849, was elected as the 
delegate of Minnesota Territory, and in 1851, again elected 
for two years. 

18. In 1857, he was elected presiding officer of the conven- 
tion which framed the State constitution, and the same year was- 
elected Governor. 

19. At the time of the Sioux outbreak in 1862, he was 
appointed by Governor Ramsey, Colonel, in charge of the forces 
against the Indians. 

20. In March, 1863, he was confirmed by the Senate, Briga- 
dier-General of Volunteers, and on November 29, 1865, was 
made Brevet Major-General. 

21. Alexander Ramsey was elected the second State Gov- 
ernor, a notice of whom has already been given. 

22. Henry A. Swift, Lieutenant-Governor of Minnesota, 
by the election of Alexander Ramsey to the United States Sen- 
ate, in 1863, by a provision of the State Constitution became 
the acting Governor. 

23- He was born March 23, 1823, at Ravenna, Ohio, and in 
1842, graduated at Western Reserve, now Adelbert College. In 
1845, he was admitted to practice law. 

24. During the winter of 1846-7, he was assistant clerk of 
the lower house of the Ohio legislature, and the next year was 
made chief clerk and served for two years. 



MINNESOTA. 49 

25. In April, 1853, he came to Saint Paul and engaged in 
mercantile pursuits, and in 1856 removed to Saint Peter. At 
the election of 1861, he was elected a State Senator for two 
years. In March, 1863, by the resignation of Ignatius Don- 
nelly, who had been elected to the United States House of Rep- 
resentatives, he became, as President of the Senate, Lieutenant- 
Governor, and when Governor Ramsey entered upon the duties 
of United States Senator, he became the acting Governor. 

28. In 1864 and in 1865, he was again a State Senator, and 
was then appointed Register of the Land Office at Saint Peter, 
where, on February 25, 1869, he died. 

27. Stephen A. Miller was born January 7, 1816, in 
Perry county, Pennsylvania. After a youth of vicissitude, in 
1837 he became a forwarding and commission merchant at Har- 
risburg, Pennsylvania. 

28. In 1849, he was chosen Prothonatory of Dauphin 
county, and from J 853 to 1855 was editor of the Harrisburg 
Telegraph. Then he became flour inspector at Philadelphia, and 
until 1858, held this office, when he removed to Minnesota and 
opened a store at Saint Cloud. 

29. In 1861 he was appointed Lien tenant-Colonel of the First 
Minnesota Regiment, and acquitted himself with credit at the 
battle of Bull Run. 

30' In September, 1862, he was made Colonel of the Seventh 
Minnesota Regiment, and the same year was nominated by the 
President and confirmed Brigadier-General of Volunteers. 

31. In 1863, he was elected Governor of Minnesota, and in 
January, 1864, entered upon his duties, and served the term of 
two years. 

32. In 1873, he was a member of the lower house of the 
legislature, and in 1876, was one of the presidential electors. 
During the last years of his life .he resided at Worthington, 
Nobles county, where, in the year 1881, he died. 

33. William R. Mabshall was born October 17, 1825, in 
Boone county, Missouri. Before he attained to manhood, he 
went to Wisconsin and engaged in surveying and lead mining. 

34. In September, 1847, he came to the Falls of Saint 
Croix, and in a few months made a claim at the Falls of Saint 
Anthony, and there, in 1849, opened a store, and represented 



50 



HISTORY. 



the district in the lower house of the first territorial Legisla- 
ture. 

35. In 1851, he came to Saint Paul and established an iron 
and hardware business, and in 1852 was county surveyor. 

36- In 1853, he engaged in the banking business, and in 
1861 became the editor of the Saint Paul Daily Press. 

37- In August, 1862, he was commissoned Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel of the Seventh Minnesota Regiment, and in November, 1S63, 
became Colonel, and in March, 1865, was confirmed as Brigadier 
General of Volunteers. 

38- In January, 1866, he entered upon the duties of Governor 
of Minnesota. After serving two terms, in 1870, he retired from 
the office. From 1 871 to 1882, he discharged the duties of State 
Railroad Commissioner. 

39. Horace Austin, in 1833, was born in Connecticut, and 
studied law at Augusta, Maine. 

40- In 1854 he came to Minnesota, and for a time lived at 
Saint Anthony, but in 1856 removed to Saint Peter, and was 
Judge of the Sixth Judicial District from January, 1865, to 
September. 1869, and the same fall was elected Governor. In 
1871 he was re-elected. Subsequently he was appointed Auditor 
of the LTnited States Treasury Department at Washington, and 
afterwards a United States Land officer in Dakota Territory. 

41. CrsHMAN K. Davis was born June 16, 1838, at Hender- 
son, Jefferson county, New York. When an infant, his parents 
removed to Waukesha, Wisconsin. In 1857, he graduated at 
the University of Michignn, and in 1859, became a lawyer. 

42. In 1862, he was First Lieutenant of the Twenty-eighth 
Wisconsin Regiment, and afterwards Adjutant under Brigadier- 
General Gorman. 

43. In August, 1864, he came to Saint Paul and formed a 
law partnership with General Gorman. In 1867 he was elected 
to the lower house of the Legislature, and in 1868 was appointed 
United States District Attorney. 

44. Iu 1873 he was elected Governor, and in 1874 entered 
upon the duties of the office and served two years. 

45- Johx S. Pillsburt. on July 29, 1828, was born at 
Sutton. New Hampshire, and at the age of sixteen entered a 
country store. For four years he was in business at Concord, 



MINNESOTA. 



51 



New Hampshire, but in 1853 immigrated to Michigan, and in 
1855 removed to Minnesota, and opened a hardware store at 
Saint Anthony, now the east division of the city of Minneapolis. 

46- In 1863 he was elected a State Senator, and served for 
seven terms. In 1875 he was elected Governor, and is the only 
Governor of Minnesota who served for three successive terms. 
In January, 1882, he retired from office, and is now one of the 
proprietors of the largest flouring mill in the United States. 

47- Lucius F. Hubbard was born January 26, 1836, at 
Troy, New York. After learning the tinners" trade, he moved 
to Chicago. 

48- In 1857 he came to Minnesota, and established a paper 
called the Republican, which he conducted until 1861, but in 
December of that year enlisted in the Fifth Minnesota Regi- 
ment, and in less than one year became its Colonel. 

49. For gallant and meritorious service at the battle of 
Nashville, in December, 1861, he received the brevet rank of 
Brigadier-General. 

50- After the war, he returned to Red Wing and engaged 
in the grain and flour business. He served from 1871 to 1875 
as State Senator, and in 1881 was elected Governor. In Jan- 
uary. 1882, he entered upon the duties of the office. 

CONGRESSMEN OF MINNESOTA. 
Territorial Delegates. 

Henry H. Sibley A. D. 1849 to 1853 

Henry M. Rice. " 1853 to 1857 

W. W. Kingsbury " 1857 to 1858 

United States Senators. 

Henry M. Rice ....A. D. 1857 to 1863 

James Shields . . " 1857 to 1859 

M. S. Wilkinson " • 1859 to 1865 

Alexander Ramsey " 1863 to 1875 

Daniel S. Norton, died in office " 1865 to 1870 

0. P. Stearns Filled unexpired term 

William Windom " 1871 to 1883 

A. J. Edgerton, a few months, while Windom was Secretary of 
the Treasurv Department. 

S. J. R. McMillan , A. D. 1875, still in office. 

D. M. Sabin " 1883, " 



52 HISTOKY. 

Members United States House of Representatives. 

W. VV. Phelps AD. 1857 lo 1859 

J. M. Cavanagh k - 1857 to 1859 

William Wiudom " 1859 to L871 

Cyrus Aldrich M 1859 to 1863 

M. S. Wilkinson. " 1869 to 1871 

Eugene M. Wilson " 1869 to 1871. 

M. H. Dunnell " 1871 to 1883 

J. T. Averill " 1871 to 1875 

H. B. Strait " . 1871 in office 

W. S. King .' " 1875 to 1877 

J. H. Stewart lt 1877 to 1879 

Henry Poehler - 1879 to 1881 

W. D. Washburn , •• 1879in office 

J. B. Wakefield - ... ■■ 1883 in office 

Knute Nelson " 1883 in office 

Milo White " 1883 in office 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



OF 



MINNESOTA. 



CHAPTER I. 
TOWN GOVERNMENT. 



ORGANIZATION. 

1. The town organization is the germ of the commonwealth, 
3nd a nursery of citizenship. 

2. An act of Congress approved by President Washington on 
the 18th of May, 1796, providing for the sale of lands in the 
Northwest Territory, ordered them to be surveyed into tracts of 
six hundred and forty acres each. 

3. By the statutes of Minnesota a majority of the legal voters 
of any congressional township, containing twenty-five legal 
voters, can petition the county commissioners to organize a 
town. 

4. A congressional township, under the United States land 
system, is a tract of land six miles square, which, for convenience 
is divided into thirty-six sections. The sixteenth and thirty- 
sixth are given for school purposes. Each section is a mile 
square, and contains six hundred and forty acres, and is divided 



MINNESOTA 



into quarter sections of one hundred and sixty acres, and these 
again are sub-divided into squares containing forty acres each. 
The sections of a township are numbered thus : 



WOBTIT 





.A.e.i- 


...1..0..U 


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5. The United States land office has established lines running 
north and south, called principal meridians, and lines running 
east and west, known as base lines. 

6. Other lines run parallel with the principal meridians, and 
are called range lines. They are six miles apart, and are num- 
bered east and west from the principal meridians. Lines are also 
run east and west, at intervals of six miles, called township 
lines. They are numbered north and south from the base lines. 

7. Forty acres in Ramsey county can thus be definitely described 
in a deed, mortgage, or other legal paper. The abbreviations, S. 
E. i of N. W. i of S. 35, T. 30, N., R. 23 W., would indicate the 
forty acres printed black on the above diagram, and would mean: 
the southeast forty acres of the northwest one hundred and sixty 
acres of section 35, township 30 north, range 23 west, and would 
be actually located in the town of Mound View, Ramsey county, 
Minnesota. 

8. The legal voters are male persons of the age of twenty-one 
years or upwards, who have resided in the United States of 
America one year, and in Minnesota four months, and in election 
districts ten days immediately preceding an election. These 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 3 

voters are classed as citizens of the United States ; foreign-born 
persons who have declared their intention to become citizens, in 
accordance with the naturalization laws of the United States ; 
persons of mixed white and Indian blood who have conformed 
to the customs and habits of civilization ; and those of Indian 
blood residing in the State, who speak the English language and 
have adopted the customs and habits of civilization, and been 
approved by a district court of the State. 

9. No soldier, seaman, or marine in the army or navy of the 
.. United States of America is deemed a resident in consequence of 

being stationed in Minnesota. 

10. Those who have been convicts for treason or felony, unless 
restored to civil rights, those who are insane, non compos mentis, 
or under guardianship, are not allowed to vote. 

11. The board of county commissioners consider the petition, 
fix and determine the boundaries of the town which is requested, 
and give a name to the same, after which they file a report of 
their proceedings with the county auditor. 

12. The county commissioners may attach a fraction of a 
township to a town, or to two or more towns, or make a separate 
organization according to the wishes of the majority of the 
voters therein. Should a river, or lake, or other body of water 
divide a township, they may annex the fraction thus formed to 
an adjoining township in the same county, upon petition of two- 
thirds of the legal voters therein. 

13. Should any township have two or more villages or cities, 
each containing two hundred or more inhabitants, the legal 
voters may petition for a division, and the county commissioners 
may divide such township in such manner as will best suit the 
State's convenience. 

14. A majority of the legal voters may give the name to the 
town if they wish, but if they fail to designate, the county com- 
missioners may choose a name. 

15* After the town has been formed and named, the county 
commissioners make notices designating a suitable place for 
holding the first town meeting, which meeting must be held 
within twent)' days after the organization of the town. 

16- Each town is a body corporate and can : 

First — Sue and be sued. 



4 MINNESOTA 

Second — Purchase and hold lands within its limits for the 
use of its inhabitants, subject to the power of the legislature. 

Third — Make contracts and purchase and hold such personal 
property as may be necessar}^ 

Fourth — Make such orders for the disposition, regulation, or 
use of its corporate property as will be beneficial to the inhab- 
itants. * 

17. No by-laws of a town can go into operation before copies 
thereof are placed in three of the most public places. 

18. The annual town meeting is held on the second Tuesday 
in March, when three supervisors are elected by ballot, one 
designated as chairman ; a clerk ; a treasurer ; an assessor; two- 
justices of the peace ; two constables ; an overseer of high- 
ways for each road district ; and such other officers as the neces- 
sities of the town may demand. Justices of the peace and 
constables are elected for two years, except to fill vacancies. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is a nursery of citizenship ? Mention the first step to be taken 
in organizing a town? Define a congressional township? How is it 
divided ? Describe a tract of forty acres in the language of the United! 
States land office ? Who are legal voters ? Who determine the bound, 
aries of a town? Who give the name? What may be done with a 
fractional township ? What privileges have voters in suggesting a 
name ? What are the powers of a town in a body corporate ? The rule 
as to publishing by-laws? When is the annual town meeting held? 
What officers are elected, and how ? The term of office of justice of 
the peace and constable ? Mention the towns in your county ? 



DUTIES OF TOWN" OFFICERS. 

1. Bach supervisior, town clerk, treasurer, assessor, and con- 
stable shall subscribe an oath before the town clerk or justice of 
the peace, to support the constitution of the United States of 
America, and of the State of Minnesota, and to faithfully per- 
form official duties. 

2. Town Supervisors have charge of all the affairs of the 
town, not by law entrusted to other officers. They draw orders 
on the town treasurer for the incidental expenses of the town 
and for moneys raised for a specific purpose. They make regu- 
lations to prevent the spread of disease and promote health. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 5 

any incorporated village or town neglect to improve its highway, 
they are authorized to improve the same. They can prosecute 
for the benefit of the town. At the annual State election, on 
the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, they are 
the judges of election. 

3. The Town Clerk records in a proper book the minutes of 
every town meeting, and enters therein all orders, rules, and 
regulations ; files all accounts allowed, and makes an abstract in 
a book of record. On State election day he acts as one of the 
clerks of election. He is required to execute a bond, approved 
by the town treasurer, in such penal sum as the supervisors 
may direct, for the faithful discharge of his duties, which must 
be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court. 

4. The Town Treasurer gives a bond, approved by the 
•chairman of supervisors, in double the probable amount of 
money that will be received by him, which the chairman, with 
his approval indorsed, files in the office of the register of deeds. 
A neglect to give a bond is deemed a refusal to serve. 

5. He draws all moneys of the town from the county treasurer; 
takes charge of all other town money, and is required to keep 
in a book, a true account of all moneys received and paid, and 
■exhibit the account with vouchers to the board of supervisors at 
the annual town meeting. 

6. The Town Assessor is elected at the town meeting, but if 
the town fails to elect, or the town board to appoint, it is the 
duty of the county auditor to make a suitable appointment. 

7. It is his duty to place a value on all the taxable real and 
personal property within the limits of the town, for assessment 
purposes, and return the same to the county auditor. 

8. Two Justices or the Peace are chosen at the annual 
town meeting for a term of two years. The jurisdiction of a 
justice is co-extensive with the limits of the county in which he 
resides, but writs of attachment may be directed to the proper 
officer, and a garnishee process may be served on the garnishee in 
any county in the State. 

9. His office must be within the town limits, and not in the 
same room with a practicing attorney. He can solemnize the 
marriage of parties within the county limits. 

10. A Constable is chosen for two years. He subscribes 



6 MINNESOTA 

to the oath of office, and executes a bond to the town supervisors, 
with sureties approved by the chairman or town clerk. He 
serves summons ; arrests and brings persons before a justice of 
the peace ; collects moneys upon executions ; and aids the jus- 
tices in the preservation of the public peace. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is required of each town officer ? Mention the principal duties 
of the supervisors? What are the duties of the town clerk? What 
bond must a town treasurer give ? The town treasurer's duties mention ? 
How are town assessors appointed ? What is the length of the term of 
office of the justice of the peace ? State the extent of his jurisdiction ? 
Where must he hold his office ? State the length of a constable's term 
of office ? Mention some of his duties ? 



THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. 

1. The school district is a most important organization, as a 
government for the people and by the people cannot endure 
unless the voters are intelligent. 

2. A town whose inhabitants do not desire ?. school district,. 
or districts, will not increase in prosperity. 

3. The county commissioners are empowered to form a school 
district upon the petition of a majority of the freeholders who 
are legal voters, with the approval of the county superintendent 
of schools. 

4. The legal voters of a school district, when lawfully con- 
vened, if five are present, can, by a majority of ballots elect a 
moderator, adjourn from time to time, and also elect a director r 
clerk, and treasurer, and designate a site for a schoolhouse. 

5. The director, clerk, and treasurer of each school distnct 
constitute a board of trustees, and any two of them may make a 
contract, notice of which has been given to all the members of 
the board at a called or regular meeting. 

6. The trustees, at a meeting called for the purpose, hire legally 
qualified teachers, and make written contracts as to salary, but 
no relatives of a trustee can be employed except by the unani- 
mous consent of the board. The term month, under the school 
law, means four weeks of five days each. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 7 

7. Upon the petition of a majority of the legal voters of a 
school district, the trustees can allow the schoolhouse to be used 
for such purposes as in their judgment will not interfere with 
the interests of education. 

8. No language but the English language is taught in the 
schools, except upon the unanimous consent of the trustees, 
when for an hour each day instruction may be given in some 
other language. 

9. Any woman twenty-one years of age or more, who shall 
have resided one year in the United States of America, and four 
months in Minnesota, and is qualified in accordance with the 
other requirements of a male voter, can vote at school meetings, 
and is eligible to hold any office pertaining solely to the manage- 
ment of the public schools. 

10. Instruction is free to actual residents between five and 
twenty-one years of age, and also to others of the same age who 
may be in good faith residents of the district, without regard to 
color, nationality, religious belief, or social position. 

11. Trustees are authorized to suspend or expel pupils for in- 
subordination, immorality, or infectious disease. 

12. District Clerk — The clerk records the proceedings of the 
meetings of the school district and of the trustees, in a book 
provided for the purpose. 

13. In the record book he is required to copy reports made 
for the county auditor and county superintendent of schools, 
and also the reports from the teachers' register. 

14. He is the custodian of the books, papers, and records of 
the district, and keeps an account of the expenses of the school 
and school building, and a list of maps, books, and other furni- 
ture of the school-room. 

15. By the 10th of September of each year he is required to 
send to the county superintendent of schools a report in the 
form ordered by the state superintendent of public instruction ; 
and on the 10th of October, annually, to the county auditor, a 
report of all moneys raised for school purposes. 

16. Each, county superintendent is required to send a list of 
books of the kinds needed by the first day of June, to the state 
superintendent of schools, and also to the county auditor. The 
state superintendent then sends a requisition to the contractor, 



8 MINNESOTA 

who shall send the books to duly appointed agents who must sell 
them at the prices fixed by the state superintendent of public 
instruction. 

17. District Treasurer — This officer is required to execute a 
bond, approved by the director and clerk, which must be filed 
with the clerk of the district court 

18. Three days before each annual meeting he must place in 
the hands of the school clerk, a detailed account of receipts and 
expenditures, which the clerk records in a proper book. 

19. District Teacher — The schoolteacher must be of good 
moral character, and have a certificate of qualification from the 
county superintendent. 

20. The school register must be properly kept, and before the 
teacher can be paid, it must, at the close of the term, be deposited 
with the clerk. 

21. The State constitution declares that in no case shall the 
moneys derived from taxation or sale of school lands, "be 
appropriated or used for the support of schools wherein the dis- 
tinctive doctrines, creeds, or tenets of any particular Christian 
or other religious sect are promulgated or taught." 

QUESTIONS 
Why is a school district important? Who form school districts? 
What number of voters is necessary to be present at a legal school district 
meeting ? Mention the officers of a school district ? Who constitute a 
board of trustees ? Who employ teachers ? What is the length of the 
school month ? For what purposes can a schoolhouse be used ? What 
language is taught in the district schools ? What is the law as to the 
participation of women in school offices ? Who are entitled to instruc- 
tion ? What is the clerk's duty as to reports ? As to school books ? 
What schools are debarred from receiving public moneys ? 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTER II. 
COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 



ORGANIZATION. 

1. The legislature may establish and organize new counties^ 
which shall not contain less than four hundred square miles 
each, and no county already organized shall be reduced below 
that amount. 

2. All laws changing county lines in counties already organ- 
ized, or for removing county seats, shall, before taking effect, be 
submitted to the electors of the county or counties to be affected 
thereby. 

3. The legislature may organize any city into a separate 
county when it has attained a population of twenty thousand 
inhabitants, when a majority of the electors of the county in 
which such city may be situated, shall vote in favor of such a 
separate organization. 

4. The county government is vested in a board of commis- 
sioners ; and the other officers consist of an auditor, treasurer, 
register of deeds, sheriff, attorney, judge of probate, court com- 
missioner, surveyor, coroner, and clerk of the district court. 

QUESTIONS. 

By what authority may counties be established ? What is necessary 
in order to remove county seats or change county lines ? How may 
cities be organized into counties ? In whom is a county government 
vested. 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 

1. The powers of a county, as a body politic and corporate, 
are exercised by a board of county commissioners. 

2. These commissioners, when the counties are divided into 
towns, create commissioner districts equal to the number of 
•commissioners. 

3. In each district the electors choose a commissioner, a resi- 



10 MINNESOTA 

dent therein, in the mode prescribed for the election of other 
county officers. 

4. Counties which have no town organization are divided into 
three districts, containing, as far as convenient, an equal number 
of electors, or voters, and numbered in regular order. 

5. In counties which poll eight hundred votes or more, the 
board shall consist of five members, and in all other counties, of 
three members. 

6. In counties entitled to five commissioners, after the first 
election, the person elected for the first district holds office for 
one year ; for the second and third districts, two years ; for the 
fourth and fifth districts, three years ; and thereafter they are 
elected for terms of three years. 

7. Each commissioner receives three dollars for each day 
necessarily employed, not exceeding twenty in a year ; and ten 
cents a mile for every mile traveled in attending not more than 
six commissioners' meetings in each year, unless otherwise pro- 
vided by a spec. 1 act of the legislature. 

8. The commissioners organize and vacate towns, establish 
election districts, appoint judges of election, and select grand 
and petit jurors. 

9. It is their duty to re-establish section posts of the United 
States survey, that may be decayed or have been destroyed. 

10. In counties which have more than five thousand inhabi- 
tants, they are required to establish, on the northeast corner of 
every congressional township, a land-mark of iron or stone, with 
letters on the top indicatng the township, range, and section. 

11. The place of meeting of the commissioners, as soon as 
practicable after the organization of a county, is required to be 
at the county seat. 

QUESTIONS. 
Who are entrusted with the powers of a county ? What is the law as 
to commissioners' districts ? What is the arrangement as to terms of 
commissioners after first election ? What is their usual term of office ? 
What is the compensation ? Mention some of their duties ? What is 
the law as to section posts ? 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 11 

COUNTY AUDITOR. 

1. The county auditor is elected for two years, beginning on 
the first Monday of the next March after his election. 

2- Before entering upon the duties of his office he gives a 
bond to the State of Minnesota, in the penal sum of not less 
than two thousand, nor more than twenty thousand dollars, 
which is approved by the county commissioners, and recorded 
and filed in the office of the register of deeds. 

3. If he does not give bond and take the oath of office before 
the first Monday in March following his election, it shall be 
deemed a refusal of office, and the county commissioners are 
empowered to fill the vacancy for this or any other cause, until 
the next election. 

4- The county auditor, by virtue of his office, is clerk of the 
board of county commissioners. He keeps an accurate record 
of their official proceedings ; is the custodian of all documents, 
books, records, maps, and papers required to be kept in his 
office ; and prepares an annual statement of the financial condi- 
tion of the county. 

5. He is required to keep an accurate account with the county 
treasurer, and when any receipt is deposited, given by the 
treasurer for money paid into the treasury, the auditor must 
place it on file and charge the treasurer with the amount thereof. 

6. No claims against the county can be paid otherwise than 
upon the allowance of the county commissioners, upon the 
warrant of the chairman of the board, attested by the auditor ; 
except in those cases in which the precise amount is fixed by 
law, or is authorized to be fixed by some other person or tribunal, 
in which case the claim shall be paid upon the warrant of the 
county auditor, upon the proper certificate of the person or 
tribunal allowing the same. 

Provided, that no public money shall be disbursed by the 
county commissioners, or any of them, but the same shall be 
disbursed by the county treasurer, upon the warrant of the 
chairman of commissioners, attested by the auditor, specifying 
the name of the party entitled to the same, on what account, 
and upon wh'>se allowance, if not fixed by law. 

7. All orders or warrants in payment for seryices must show 
the specific time for which such services were rendered. They 



12 MINNESOTA 

must also be progressively numbered ; and the number, date, and 
amount of each, the name of the person to whom payable, the 
purpose for which drawn, and the date of issue, be entered in a 
specific book by the county auditor. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is a county auditor's term of office ? State the amount of his 
bond ? How is a vacancy in the office filled ? What is his relation to 
the board of commissioners? Mention his relations with the county 
treasurer? What claims can he pay ? How must orders and warrants 
be preserved ? 



COUNTY TREASURES. 

1 . The county treasurer, as the auditor, is elected for two years 
from the first Monday in March after his election. 

2. His oath of office and bond, in such sum as approved by 
the county commissioners, must be filed and recorded in the office 
of the register of deeds on or before the fifteenth of January 
next after his election. 

3. In case of a vacancy from any cause, the county commis- 
sioners can appoint a treasurer to the office until the next 
election. 

4. The treasurer's office must be at the county seat. In books 
provided by the county, he is required to show the amounts 
received and paid on account of separate and distinct funds, 
and to exhibit the same in separate accounts. 

5. The county auditor, the chairman of the board of county 
commissioners, and the elerk of the district court, are a board of 
auditors to examine the accounts and vouchers of the treasurer ; 
and to count and ascertain the kind and amount of funds in the 
treasury, at least three times a year, without giving notice to the 
treasurer. 

6. The funds of the county must be deposited by the treasurer, 
in his official capacity, in a bank or banks designated by the 
board of auditors. 

7. The treasurer may be suspended by the Governor of the 
State, when reported by the public examiner, for malfeasance or 
neglect of duty. He then notifies the commissioners, through 
the county auditor, to appoint a treasurer ad interim. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



13 



8. A suspended treasurer can, within thirty days from the 
time of suspension, have a hearing upon the charges made. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the term of office of a county treasurer ? What steps must 
be taken before entering upon duty ? Who is authorized to fill a va- 
cancy? Where must the treasurer's office be? Mention his duties? 
Who examine his accounts? Where are the county funds deposited? 
When may a treasurer be suspended ? By whom ? How many days has 
a suspended treasurer to ask for a hearing ? 



REGISTER OF DEEDS. 

1 . The register of deeds is elected for two years, and must 
take the oath of office and give a bond in the sum of five thou- 
sand dollars, approved by the board of commissioners. 

2. He is required to keep a grantor's book, each page of which 
shall have seven columns, with the following headings : 



Date of Reception. 
Year, day, hour, minute. 






To whom de- 
livered after 
record. 



CO > 



Book and page, 
where recorded, 
and kind of in- 
strument. 



Also a grantee's book arranged in similar manner, except that 
the name of "grantee" is before " grantor," He is required 
also to keep a tract index book, with abstract of titles. 

3. He is required during office hours, to exhibit free of charge 
any of the records or papers of his office, upon the demand of 
any person wishing to see the same. 

4. Fees are to be paid before the register is bound to record 
any deed, mortgage, or other instrument. 

5. The register is empowered to administer oaths and take 
acknow ledgment s . 

QUESTIONS. 

For what period is the register of deeds elected? Mention the 
amount of his bond? What books is he required to keep? State his 
duty as to showing records ? The law as to fees ? 



14 MINNESOTA 

SHERIFF. 

1. The sheriff is the executive officer of the county, and is 
elected for two years. He is required to give bond in the sum 
of five thousand dollars for the faithful discharge of his duties. 

2. He is charged with the preservation of the peace of the 
county, with power to call persons to assist ; pursues and 
apprehends felons ; executes all warrants and other processes for 
a justice of the peace, district court, or other competent tribunal; 
and attends the sessions of the district court. 

3. He cannot practice as an attorney or solicitor in any court, 
nor draw or fill up any process or pleading for any party in 
action. He is also ineligible for any civil office except village or 
city marshal. 

4» All county funds received by him are paid over to the 
board of county commissioners. 

QUESTIONS. 
What is the sheriff ? His term of office ? The amount of his bond? 
Mention his duties ? What civil offices can he hold ? To whom does 
he pay county funds ? 



COUNTY ATTOKNEY. 

1 . The county attorney is generally an admitted lawyer. He 
is elected for two years, and gives a bond in the sum of one 
thousand dollars, approved by the board of commissioners ; and 
this bond, with his oath of office, is deposited with the clerk of 
the district court. A justice of the peace is ineligible for this 
office. 

2. It is his duty to prosecute or defend for the county ; to 
give opinions and advice to county officers as to their duties, 
when requested ; to attend the district court and all other courts 
having criminal jurisdiction ; to attend preliminary examina- 
tions of criminals ; to give the grand jury, when requested, legal 
advice, and draw all bills of indictment and presentment of the 
grand jury, and prosecute the same. 

3. On the first of January, each year, he files with the county 
auditor, under oath, a specific account of all moneys received 
during the preceding year, and on or before that period pays 
>over the moneys to the county treasurer. 



CIVIL . GOVERNMENT. 1 5 

4. On or before the fifremt i of November of each year, he 
transmits a report, in such form as the attorney general of the 
State prescribes. 

QUESTIONS 

What is requisite to hold the office of county attorney ? The length 
of his term of office ? The extent of his bond ? Who is ineligible to 
this office ? Mention the chief duties of county attorney ? What is the 
nature of his report to the county auditor? When must he send a re- 
port to the attorney general? 



JUDGE OF PROBATE. 

1. The judge of probate is required to take the oath of office, 
and give a bond of one thousand dollars, approved by the county 
commissioners. 

2. His office must be at the county seat, and on the first 
Monday of each month he holds court in his office, or in some 
other place he may appoint. 

3. The probate court has, among oilier powers, exclusive 
jurisdiction to take the proof of wills and bequests of deceased 
persons ; to grant and revoke letters testamentary and of admin- 
istration ; to appoint and remove guardians ; and to take the 
care and custody of spendthrifts or insane persons. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the amount of bond of judge of probate ? How often is a 
probate court held ? Mention some of the powers of a probate court ? 



COURT COMMISSIONER. 

1 . In each organized county a person learned in the law is 
chosen as court commissioner for a term of three years, who may 
exercise the powers of a judge of the district court at chambers. 

2. He is required to give a bond in the sum of two thousand 
dollars, approved by the county commissioners ; to have an 
office at the county seat, and keep a record of the proceedings 
in books procured at the expense of the county. 

QUESTIONS. 
Mention the requisite for a court commissioner ? What powers may 

Hie exercise ? Where must his office be ? 



16 



MINNESOTA. 



COUNTY SURVEYOR. 

1. For each county a surveyor is elected for a term of two 
years. He must be a resident of the county, and give bond in 
the sum of five hundred dollars, approved by the county com- 
missioners. 

2. He is empowered to administer oaths to persons under his 
charge, and his compensation is four dollars a day for each day 
employed in the duties of his office, including the time spent in 
going to and from the field of labor. 

3. In a book provided for the purpose, he is required to keep 
a fair and correct record of all surveys made by him or his 
deputies. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the term of office of the county surveyor? To whom can he 
administer oaths ? What is his compensation ? 



CORONER. 

1. A coroner is elected in each organized county for a term 
of two years, who, before entering upon his duties, gives a bond 
to the county commissioners in a penal sum not less than five 
hundred dollars, nor more than two thousand dollars. 

2. He holds inquests upon the bodies of persons supposed to 
have met with violent deaths, and has power to issue a warrant 
to the constable of the election district where the body is found, 
to summon a jury of six good men, to inquire as to the cause of 
death. 

3. He can also issue subpoenas for witnesses, and in certain 
cases provide for a decent burial of the body. 

4. When there is a vacancy in the office of sheriff, the duties 
are discharged by the coroner until his successor is qualified. 

QUESTIONS. 

What must a coroner do before entering upon the duties of his office ? 
What are his duties as to the bodies of persons supposed to have met 
with violent deaths ? 



CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT. 

1. A clerk of the district court, before entering upon his 
duties subscribes the oath required by law, and executes a bond- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 17 

in the sum of one thousand dollars, approved by the county 
commissioners. 

2. His office is at the county seat, and in books provided by 
the county he is required to keep a register of actions, a judg- 
ment book, and a docket alphabetically arranged. 

3. His salary, provided the population of the county at the 
last census is more than four thousand five hundred, shall be 
five hundred dollars; and if the fees received do not amount to 
that sum, the county treasurer, unless forbidden by the county 
commissioners, pays the deficit. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where must the office of clerk of the district court be located ? What 
is he required to keep? What are the provisions as to salary? 



COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 

1. The county superintendent of schools is elected at the 
State election for a term of two years ; and in case of a vacancy 
the county commissioners fill the office by appointment. 

2. His salary is paid monthly, and cannot be less than ten 
dollars a year for each organized school district in the county, 
nor more than one thousand eight hundred a year. 

3. The official expenses are paid by the county, and the 
superintendent each year, on the first day of July, October, Jan- 
uary, and April, files with the county auditor a statement of the 
number of schools visited the preceding quarter, verified by 
oath or affirmation. He sees that agents have the necessary 
books for sale, and with the state superintendent arranges for 
teachers' institutes. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the length of term of the county superintendent ? How is a 
vacancy filled ? How often does he make a report It 



18 MINNESOTA 

CHAPTER III. 
VILLAGE GOVERNMENT 



1 . By order of a judge of the district court of the county in 
which the lands are, a village may be incorporated. 

2. The inhabitants of said village, when incorporated, who 
are entitled to vote for members of the legislature, may elect a 
president, three trustees, a treasurer, and a recorder, who shall 
hold office for one year, or until their successors are qualified; 
and a justice of the peace and constable for two years, or until 
their successors are qualified. 

3. The president, three trustees, and the recorder constitute 
a village council, any three of whom shall be a quorum for the 
transaction of business. 

4. The village council is empowered to provide sidewalks, 
preserve peace, and prevent the obstruction of streets and the 
running of cattle at large. They are also authorized to pro- 
hibit drunkenness, brawling, and obscenity in public places. 
They can pass ordinances for the protection of public property 
and public health. They can prohibit gift enterprises and all 
descriptions of gaming; restrain vagrants, mendicants, and dis- 
orderly houses; and all persons from giving to others, or dealing 
in, spirituous, malt, fermented, or vinous liquors, unless duly 
licensed. 

5- The village council may establish and maintain a public 
library and reading room. 

6. All fines and penalties imposed belong to the village. 

7. Certain persons, designated in the act of incorporation, 
post notices in three of the most public places at least ten days 
before holding the first election, at which the organization is 
perfected and officers chosen. 

8. After the first election there is an annual election on the 
first Tuesday in January. Written notices, ten days before, 
must be posted in three public places, or published in a news- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 19 

paper of the village. The polls open at ten o'clock in the morn- 
ing, and close at four in the afternoon. 

9. The village council, unless specially authorized by the 
voters, cannot appropriate more than five hundred dollars for 
any one purpose. 

QUESTIONS. 

Who incorporates a village? Mention the principal village officers? 
Who constitute the village council ? State some of the powers of the 
council. 



CHAPTER IV. 
CITY GOVERNMENT. 



1. A city may be organized when two-thirds of the legal 
voters within designated limits, containing not less than two 
thousand nor more than fifteen thousand inhabitants, shall pre- 
sent a petition to the judge of probate of the county in which 
the territory with its designated limits is situated.* 

2. The judge of probate then issues an order declaring such 
territory duly organized as a city, and shall designate the bounds, 
wards, and names thereof, as mentioned in the petition. 

3. The judge of probate orders the time of the first election, 
the notice of which must be posted thirty days before, in at least 
five of the most public places in the city, and published in some 
newspaper of the city once a week for three consecutive weeks, 
and if there be no newspaper in said city, then in the newspaper 
published nearest thereto. 

4. The judge of probate names three voters of each ward to 
be inspectors at the first election. 

5. After the first election there will be an annual election 
on the first Monday in April,and the polls must be kept open from 
nine o'clock in the morning until five o'clock in the afternoon. 

6. The corporate name of each city shall be "City of ." 

7. The officers of each city elected by the legal voters are, 
♦Some cities are organized under special acts of incorporation. 



20 MINNESOTA 

a mayor, treasurer, recorder, arid a city justice, and two alder- 
men for each ward; all other officers are appointed by the com- 
mon council. 

8. At the first general election, one alderman for each ward 
shall be elected for one year, and the other for two years; but at 
every annual election thereafter, one alderman shall be elected 
for each ward for two years, or until his successor is qualified. 

9. The city justices hold office for two years, and the term 
of all other elective officers is one year. All hold over until 
their successors are qualified. 

10. All elections are by ballot, and each ballot must contain 
the names of persons voted for, with a proper designation of 
office written or printed thereon, and a plurality of votes shall 
constitute an election. If two persons receive, an equal number 
of votes for the same office, the election is determined by the 
casting of lots, in the presence of the common council. 

11. Any person is entitled to vote who has resided in the 
city four months, and ten days in the ward where he offers to 
vote. 

1 2. The common council of the city is composed of the 
aldermen. It is the judge of the election and qualification of 
its own members. 

13. The common council has control of the property and 
finances of the city, and, among other powers, can remove nui- 
sances injurious to health, prohibit gaming, and pass laws for 
the promotion of good order and the suppression of vice. 

14. The council, by a two-thirds vote, may issue bonds not 
exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, redeemable within ten years, 
and bearing interest not to exceed ten per cent, per annum. 

15. All laws must be signed by the mayor and published in 
the official paper of the city before the same shall be in force. 

16. The Mayor is the chief executive officer, and head of 
the police of the city, and it is his duty to see that the laws of 
the State and city are enforced. From time to time he gives the 
common council such information and recommends such meas- 
ures as he may deem advantageous. 

1.7. All ordinances and resolutions of the common council 
must be approved and signed by the mayor before they can take 
effect. 



CIVIL GOYERPTME^i'. 21 

18. Any of these instruments unsigned by him are returned 
through the recorder, with his objections, to be presented at the 
next meeting of the common council. Upon the return of any 
resolution or ordinance, the council may reconsider, and if, 
after reconsideration, it shall pass by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members elected, it shall have the same effect as if it had been 
approved and signed by the mayor. 

19. The City Recorder must keep his office at or near 
the place of meeting of the city council. He keeps the records, 
papers, and corporate seal; also has power to administer oaths 
and affirmations, and acknowledge deeds and other writings. 

20. All orders on the treasurer, pursuant to resolutions of 
the council, must be by him drawn and countersigned. Every 
contract made in behalf of the city, unless signed by him, is void. 

21 In regular books he is required to keep an account of the 
indebtedness of the city. He examines all reports, books, pa- 
pers, vouchers and accounts of the city treasurer; and all claims 
against the city are audited and adjusted by him before being 
allowed by the city council. 

22. The City Treasurer keeps an accurate and detailed ac- 
count of all taxes, license money, and fines, and fifteen days, at 
least, before the annual election, he is required to make a report. 

23. The City Assessor is elected annually in the month of 
April, and he assesses property for the levying of all city, 
county, and State taxes. 

24. The City Justices have the rights and authority of a 
county justice, and in addition, exclusive jurisdiction to try all 
complaints for violation of any provision of the charter or ordi- 
nance of the council. In cases of larceny they have jurisdic- 
tion where the amount claimed does not exceed twenty-five 
dollars. 

QUESTIONS. 

What steps must be taken to organize a city ? Who issues the order 
for organization ? Describe the mode of election ? Who are entitled 
to vote? Who compose the common council? Mention some of their 
duties ? Who is the mayor ? What are his duties ? What may be done 
if the mayor does not sign an ordinance or resolution ? What are the 
duties of the city recorder ? The duties of the city treasurer ? The 
duties of city assessor? What is the jurisdiction of city justices. 



22 MINNESOTA 

CHAPTER V. 
STATE GOVERNMENT. 



1 . The powers of the State of Minnesota are divided into 
three departments, the executive, judicial, and legislative. 

2. The legislative frames the laws, the judiciary interprets, 
and the executive enforces legislation. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

3. The executive department of the State consists of a Gov- 
ernor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, 
and attorney general. 

4. The Governor must be twenty-five years of age, a 
resident of the State for one year preceding his election, and a 
citizen of the United States of America. His term of office is 
two years and until his successor is chosen. 

5. His chief duties are: 

First — To communicate to each session of the legislature such 
information as he may deem expedient, as to the condition of 
the country. 

Second — To act as commander in chief of all military forces, 
and call out such forces to execute the laws, suppress insurrec- 
tion, and repel invasion. 

Third — He may grant reprieves and pardons after conviction 
for offences against the State, except in cases of impeachment. 

Fourth — To appoint a state librarian and notaries public and 
other officers, with the advice and consent of the senate. 

Fifth — To appoint commissioners to take the acknowledg- 
ments of deeds and other instruments of writing to be used by 
the State. 

Sixth — He has a negative upon all laws passed by the legis- 
lature. 

Seventh — He may call special sessions of the legislature by 
proclamation, stating the purpose for which they are convened. 

Eighth — He is the custodian of the property of the State, not 
entrusted by law to other officers. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT- 23 

Ninth — He is required to set apart by proclamation one day 
in each year as a day of solemn and public thanksgiving to Al- 
mighty God for His blessings to the State and nation. 

6. The salary of the Governor is three thousand eight hun- 
dred dollars. 

7. The Lieutenant Governor is ekcted for two years and 
until his successor is chosen. He is president of the senate, 
and his compensation is double that of a senator. During a 
vacancy in the office of Governor he becomes the chief executive. 

8. The Secretary of State is elected for two years. He 
has the custody of the State seal and all the State records. He 
prepares the halls for a session of the legislature, calls the mem- 
bers of the house of representatives to order, and presides until 
a speaker is elected. He prepares the legislative manual, and 
indexes to the laws and executive documents, and distributes 
them when printed. He receives an annual salary of one 
thousand five hundred dollars, besides three hundred dollars as 
superintendent of printing. 

9. The State Auditor is elected for two years and until his 
successor is qualified. He is required to give a bond in the sum 
of twenty thousand dollars, approved by the Governor. 

10. AH official copies of records and documents must be cer- 
tified and signed under "the seal of the auditor of Minnesota." 

11. All accounts and claims directed to be paid by the State 
treasury, must be presented to the auditor, who examines, ad- 
justs, and issues warrants on the treasury. 

12- Each warrant must show the date of its issue, and the 
person to whom payable; and the auditor is required to enter in 
progressive order, in proper books, the number, amount called 
for, date, and name of person, of each warrant issued. 

13. He must keep an accurate record of all public accounts 
and other documents returnable to his office, and keep a file in 
progressive order, of all receipts and other vouchers relating to 
his office. 

14. He also keeps a regular account with the state treasurer, 
of all moneys received, and credits him with all warrants re- 
deemed and deposited in the auditor's office; and an annual state- 
ment of receipts and disbursements is made to each legislature. 

15. The annual salary of the state auditor is two thousand 



24 MIKKESOTA. 

dollars, with one thousand dollars for services as land com- 
missioner. 

16. The State Treasurer is required to keep his office at 
the capital, open every day, except Sundays and legal holidays. 

17. He is the custodian of all moneys in the treasury, and 
pays out the same as directed by law. 

18. Before entering upon his duties he gives a bond in the 
sum of four hundred thousand dollars, with five or more sure- 
ties, approved by the Governor and state auditor. 

19. He keeps an accurate account of receipts and disburse- 
ments, and receives in payment of public dues, the state auditor's 
warrants, if there is money in the treasury for that purpose; 
and on redeeming the warrants the person presenting it must 
endorse it, and the treasurer writes on the face thereof the word 
''redeemed." 

20. He deposits with the state auditor on the first Monday 
of March, June, September, and November of each year, all re- 
deemed warrants, and takes the auditor's receipts. 

21. At each session, to each branch of the legislature is pre- 
sented an itemized statement of the public accounts and funds ; 
and once in two months, in at least one newspaper printed and 
published at the capital, a condensed statement of the condi- 
tion of the several State funds is given. 

22. Four times in each year a board of auditors, composed 
of the Governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, ex- 
amines and audits the accounts, books, and vouchers of the 
treasurer; and count and ascertain the kinds, description, and 
amouut of funds in the treasury, without previous notice to the 
treasurer. 

23. All State funds are deposited in one or more banks at 
the capital of Minnesota, the banks giving a bond, approved 
by the treasurer and auditing board, in at least double the 
amount deposited, and agreeing to pay a fair and equitable inter- 
est on all daily balances in their hands. 

24. The treasurer is required to keep his books by the 
"double entry" system, and his cash book must be plainly and 
accurately balanced every business day. 

25. All moneys received from railroad, telegraph, insurance, 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 25 

and other companies, in lieu of taxation, are credited by the 
treasurer to the fund for the support of pension, charitable, and 
educational institutions of the State; and all moneys received in 
excess of the amount required for the purpose for which the 
same was levied, and all sums which may be received from the 
United States of America in payment of war claims, are placed 
to the credit of the general revenue fund. 

26. The annual salary of the state treasurer is three thous- 
and five hundred dollars. 

27. The Attorney General appears for the State in the 
trial and argument of all causes in the supreme court wherein 
the State has an interest. 

28. Upon the written request of the Governor he prosecutes 
any person charged with an indictable offense, and if the public 
interest requires, when requested by the county attorney, ap- 
pears in the district court in criminal cases. 

29- He prosecutes official bonds of delinquent officers ; insti- 
tutes actions against all persons holding any portion of a 
school section adversely to the State, delinquent revenue officers, 
and corporations. 

30. He gives legal advice upon official business to the Gov- 
ernor, secretary, treasurer, and auditor of the State, the su- 
perintendent of public instruction, the warden and directors 
of the penitentiary, the directors of State benevolent institu- 
tions, and also, when required, to either house of the legislature. 

31. He is required to keep a register of all actions, demands, 
complaints, writs, informations, and other proceedings officially 
prosecuted or defended, and to make an annual report to the 
Governor, of cases, costs, fines, and penalties. 

32. The salary of the attorney general is two thousand dol- 
lars per annum. 

QUESTIONS. 
Mention the powers of the State ? Who constitute the executive de- 
partment ? At what age is a man eligible for Governor ? His term of 
office and compensation? What are the chief duties of the Governor? 
What are the duties of the lieutenant governor? His term of office and 
compensation ? What are the duties of secretary of state ? What is the 
amount of the state auditor's bond? The duties of the auditor? What is 
the amount of the state treasurer's bond ? His chief duties ? Who exam- 
ine the state treasurer's accounts ? Where are the State funds deposited ? 
What are the chief duties of the attorney general? What is his salary? 



26 MINNESOTA 

STATE OFFICERS NOT OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

1. The State Librarian is appointed for two years by the 
Governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, and before 
entering upon his duties, takes the oath of office and gives a 
bond in the sum of two thousand dollars, approved by the Gov- 
ernor. 

2. Under the control of the judges of the supreme court he 
attends to all sales, purchases, and exchanges of books, pam- 
phlets, and documents for the State library. 

3. He is required to enforce the rules and regulations pre- 
scribed by the judges of the supreme court. 

4. The Cleek of the Supreme Court, before entering upon 
his duties, executes a bond in the sum of one thousand dollars,to 
the Governor. 

5. He furnishes the necessary records, stationery, lights, fuel, 
and furniture for the use of the supreme court. 

6. He performs all the duties assigned by law and the rules 
of the supreme court, and when a syllabus is file! by the judges 
he is required immediately to furnish a copy to all St. Paul 
newspapers, who will, without charge, publish the same, with 
title of action. 

7. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is appointed 
by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, and 
holds his office for two years, commencing on the first Tuesday 
in April after his appointment. 

8. He receives an annual salary of two thousand five hun- 
dred dollars, and contingent expenses not exceeding five hun- 
dred dollars, for postage, stationery, and traveling. 

9. It is his duty to file all papers, reports, and documents 
transmitted to him by county superintendents, county auditors, 
and others ; to meet the county superintendents from time to 
time to discuss the interests of the public schools, and to hold 
teachers 1 institutes and training schools. 

10. He also prepares and distributes, through the county su- 
perintendents of schools, school registers, blanks for teachers* 
and clerks 1 reports to the county superintendents and county 
auditors, to the department of public instruction, and all other- 
necessary forms. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 27 

11. He reports to each session of the legislature, through the 
Governor: 

First — An abstract of the common school reports. 

Second — A statement of the condition of public schools and 
all other institutions of learning in the State that may report to 
him. 

Third — The amount of school moneys collected and ex- 
pended each year. 

Fourth — All matters relative to his office, the public schools 
and the school fund, the number and character of teachers, and 
whatsoever he may deem expedient to communicate. 

12. The Public Examiner is appointed by the Governor for 
a term of three years, with the advice and consent of the sen- 
ate. He must be a skillful accountant and an expert in book- 
keeping. He must not be an officer of any State, county, or 
public institution,, nor a stockholder, officer, trustee, assignee, or 
employed in any capacity by any banking institution. 

13. Before entering upon his duties he must give a bond in 
the sum of fifty thousand dollars, with three sureties, approved 
by the Governor. 

14. It is his duty to visit, without previous notice, at least 
twice each year, and inspect the financial accounts of the State 
educational, charitable, penal, reformatory, and other public in- 
stitutions. 

15. He is authorized to order and enforce, as far as practica- 
ble, a uniform system of book-keeping by state and couuty 
treasurers. 

16. He examines the character and financial standing of the 
bondsmen offered by State and county officers, and is empowered 
to approve or reject. 

17- He reports to the Governor any failure of duty upon the 
part of a financial officer, and the Governor may suspend such 
officer from duty until a thorough examination is had. 

18. It is his duty also to visit once a year, without prior 
notice, each banking, savings, or other moneyed corporation, in- 
corporated by the State, and to thoroughly examine its financial 
condition. 

19. He makes an annual report to the Governor, for publica- 



28 MINNESOTA 

tion, which is an abstract of the condition and statistics of the 
several financial institutions, and of the county and State 
finances. 

20. He receives an annual salary of three thousand five hun- 
dred dollars. 

21. A Railroad Commissioner is elected at a general elec- 
tion for two years, and until his successor is elected and quali- 
fied, Before entering upon his duties he gives a bond in the 
sum of ten thousand dollars, approved b}^ the Governor. 

22. It is his duty to inquire into any neglect or violation of 
the laws of the State by railroad corporations, to visit and in- 
spect the condition of each railroad, and ascertain its pecuniary 
condition. 

23. On or before the first of December of each year, he re- 
ports to the Governor the name and capital stock of each rail- 
road corporation, its funded debt and rate of interest, the cost 
of road and equipments, the value of its property, the amount 
of land grant, and the names of officers and directors. 

24. The railroad commissioner receives an annual salary of 
three thousand dollars. 

25. Commissioner of Statistics. The assistant secretary of 
state, by virtue of his office, is commissioner of statistics. 

26. It is his duty to collect the statistics of the State per- 
taining to its agriculture, manufactures, and population. 

QUESTIONS. 

How is the superintendent of public instruction appointed? His 
length of office and compensation? Mention his principal duties? 
Who appoints the public examiner ? State his necessary qualifications ? 
Amount of public examiner's bond and term of office ? What is his 
duty as to bondsmen of officers, State institutions, and moneyed cor- 
porations ? When is the railroad commissioner elected ? Mention his 
term of office and salary ? What are his duties ? How is the state 
librarian appointed ? What are his duties ? What are the duties of 
the clerk of the supreme court ? State the duties of commissioner of 
statistics. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 29 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

1. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, district 
courts, probate courts, municipal courts, and justices of the 
peace. 

2. The Supreme Court consists of one chief justice and four 
associate justices. It has original jurisdiction in remedial cases, 
md appellate jurisdiction in all cases, but there is no trial by 
fury in this court. 

3. The judges of the supreme court are elected by electors at 
large, and their term of office is seven years and until their suc- 
sessors are elected and qualified. 

4. Whenever all, or a majority of judges, shall, from any 
2ause, be disqualified for sitting in any case in said court, the 
Grovernor, or if he is interested in the case, the lieutenant gov- 
ernor shall assign district judges to sit in such case, with all the 
powers of supreme judges. 

5. Any judge of the supreme court has power during vaca- 
tion to issue any of the writs or processes which the said court 
is allowed to issue. 

6. There are two general terms of this court held at the 
State capital ; one on the first Monday in April, and the other 
on the first Monday in October. By giving twenty clays notice 
in a newspaper published at the seat of government, a special 
term of court may be held. 

7. The salary of a judge of the supreme court is four thous- 
and dollars per year. 

8. District Courts. — The legislature divides the State into 
judicial districts from time to time, and the voters in each dis- 
trict elect one or more judges as the law may provide. 

9. The term of office of a district judge is se\ren years, and he 
receives an annual compensation of two thousand five hundred 
dollars. 

10. District courts have original jurisdiction in all civil cases 
both in law and equity, where the amount in controversy ex* 
ceeds one hundred dollars, and in all criminal cases where the 
punishment, in case of conviction, exceeds three months impris- 
onment, or the fine is more than one hundred dollars. 

11. Municipal courts are established by special legislation. 



30 MINNESOTA 

and now exist only in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Stillwater. 
Probate court, see page 15. 
Justices of the peace, see page 5. 

QUESTIONS. 

Who constitute the supreme court ? By whom, and for what time, 
;are supreme judges elected? Mention the regular terms of this court? 
How are judicial districts created ? By whom, and for what time, is a 
district judge elected? Mention the jurisdiction of district courts? 
What cities have municipal courts ? 



LEGISLATIVE DEPAKTME^T. 

1. By the law of 1881, the legislature, until a new appor- 
tionment is made, consists of forty-seven senators and one 
hundred and three members of the house of representatives. 
These members are elected by the voters of forty-seven senato- 
rial, and one hundred and three representative districts, duly 
defined. 

2. The legislature assembles at St. Paul, the seat of govern- 
ment, biennially, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in 
January, at noon. 

3. A certificate of election, duly certified by the county aud- 
itor, is sufficient evidence of membership to allow of participa- 
tion in the organization of either branch of the legislature. 

4. On the day legally set for the convening of the legislative 
bodies, the president of the senate, or in case of his absence or 
inability, the oldest member present takes the chair and calls 
the members to order, and appoints one of their number a clerk 
pro tern. 

5. The senatorial districts are then called in order, and per- 
sons claiming to be members present their certificates and take 
the oath required by the constitution. 

6. If a quorum is present the senate then elects a secretary, 
an assistant secretary, an enrolling clerk, an engrossing clerk,' 
a sergeant-at-arms, and a fireman. 

7. In the hall of the house of representatives, at the time 
.appointed by law, the secretary of state, and in his absence the 
senior member present, calls the members elect to order, and ap- 
points a clerk fro tern. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 31 

8. The representative districts are then called in numerical 
order, and those claiming to represent the same present their 
certificates and take the oath of office. 

9. If a quorum is present they proceed to elect a speaker, a 
chief clerk, an assistant clerk, a second assistant clerk, an en- 
rolling clerk, an assistant enrolling clerk, who acts as post- 
master of the house, an engrossing clerk, a sergeant-at-arms, 
an. assistant sergeant-at-arms, who acts as doorkeeper, and a 
chaplain. 

10. Two messenger boys are appointed by the president of 
of the senate, and two by the speaker of the house. 

11. Every bill for consideration is introduced to each branch 
of the legislature, upon leave, or upon the report of a committee, 
and must have three several readings before its passage. At 
least one day's notice must be given of a motion for leave to 
bring in a bill. 

12. The first reading of a bill is at length, and if reported 
back by the appropriate committee, with a favorable recom- 
mendation, it is read a second time, by its title, and referred to a 
committee of the whole. 

13. After discussion, and it is decided to read a third time, 
it is engrossed and read at length, and no amendment can there- 
after be made, except by unanimous consent. 

14. When a bill has passed both houses it is examined by the 
committee on enrollment, and if they report it correct it is pre- 
sented to the presiding officer of each house for signa- 
ture, and after being signed by them is sent to the Governor for 
approval. 

15. Either house may punish, as a contempt, by imprison- 
ment, not exceeding the same legislative session, for one or more 
of the following offenses : 

First — Arresting or procuring the arrest of a member in vio- 
lation of his privilege from arrest. 

Second — Disorderly conduct in the immediate view and pres- 
ence of the house, directly tending to interrupt its proceedings. 

Third — Refusing to attend or be examined as a witness, 
either before the house or a committee. 

Fourth — Giving or offering a bribe, or attempting to menace 



32 MINNESOTA 

by any corrupt means, directly or indirectly, the vote of a mem- 
ber. 

16. Members of the legislature do not receive more than 
four hundred and fifty dollars for any regular biennial session, 
nor more than two hundred dollars when duly convened in ex- 
tra sessson. 

17. The daily compensation of the presidency of the senate, 
and speaker of the house, is ten dollars, and that of the secre- 
tary of the senate, and chief clerk of the house of representa- 
tives, is also ten dollars. 

18. The daily compensation of the assistant secretary of the 
senate, and the assistant clerk of the house, is seven dollars. 

19. The daily compensation of the members and the other 
officers of each house, except the messengers, is five dollars. 

20. Mileage at the rate of. fifteen cents a mile is allowed the 
president of the senate, the speaker of the house, and members 
of both branches of the legislature, for the distance necessarily 
traveled in going to and returning from the sessions. 

MODE OF ELECTING UNITED STATES SENATOR. 

21. On the second Tuesday after the organization of the leg- 
islature, at a regular session, immediately preceding the expi- 
ration of the time for which a senator was elected to represent 
the State in the congress of the United States of America, it 
proceeds to elect a United States senator. 

22. Each house openly, by a viva voce vote of each member^ 
votes for a person as senator in congress, and the name of the 
person receiving a majority of all the votes, a majority of the 
members being present and voting, is entered in its journal ; 
but if either house fails to give a majority to the same person on 
that day, it shall be entered in its journal. 

23. At noon the following day the members of both houses 
assemble in joint convention in the hall of the house of repre- 
sentatives, the president of the senate acting as speaker thereof, 
and the chief clerk of the house acting as secretary. 

24. If, upon the calling of the roll, amajorhty of both houses 
be found present, then the proceedings of each house on the 
preceding day, in relation to the election of United. States sena- 
tor, is read by the proper officer. 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT. 33 

25. If it is then ascertained that the same person has re- 
ceived a majority of all the votes in each house, then such per- 
son is declared elected United States senator. But if the same 
person shall not receive a majority of votes in each house, or if 
either house has failed to take proceedings as required, then the 
joint convention shall proceed to vote viva voce for United States 
senator, and the person receiving a majority of all the votes, a 
majority of the members of both houses being present and 
voting, is deemed elected United States senator. 

26. If no person on the first day receives a majority of votes, 
then the joint convention meets at noon on each succeeding 
day. and takes at least one vote until a United States senator 
is chosen. 

27. If a vacancy exists in the representation of the State in 
the United States senate, the legislature, on the second Monday 
after its organization, proceeds to elect a person to fil] the va- 
cancy, and if a vacancy shall occur after it has assembled, then, 
on the second Tuesday after official notice of such vacancy has 
been received by the legislature, it chooses a person to fill the 
vacancy. 

28. If a vacancy occurs when the legislature is not in session, 
the Governor appoints a person to fill the vacancy until the ses- 
sion of the next legislature, and until a successor is elected and 
qualified. 

29« The certificate executed by the Governor, and forwarded 
to the president of the United States senate, is prima facie evi- 
dence that the person named therein has been duly elected to 
represent the State in the senate of the United States of 
America. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the number of State legislators ? How many are senators, 
and how many of the house of representatives ? Where and when does 
the legislature meet ? How is the senate organized ? Name its officers ? 
How is the house of representatives organized? Name its officers? 
Mention the compensation of officers and members of the legislature ? 
When is the United States senator elected ? Describe the steps taken 
in this election ? What is done when a vacancy occurs ? Who issues 
the certificate of election ? 



34 MINNESOTA 

CHAPTER VI. 
ELECTIONS. 



1. The annual general election is held on the first Tuesday 
after the first Monday in November. 

2. At the election next preceding the expiration of their 
terms of office, are elected the State and county officers, the 
judges of the supreme and district courts, members of the State 
legislature, and representatives in the congress of the United 
States of America. 

3. In the year when a President and Vice-president of the 
United States are to be chosen, electors of President and Vice- 
president, equal to the number of senators and representatives 
of the State in congress, are elected. 

4. Every organized town, and every ward of an incorporated 
city, is an election district. 

5. The supervisors of each town are the judges of election, 
and the town clerk acts as a clerk of election ; and when prac- 
ticable, the supervisors appoint an additional election clerk of 
an opposite party. 

6. The council of each city appoints three qualified electors 
of each election district, as judges of election, and they appoint 
two qualified electors as election clerks, unless different provis- 
ions are made by special enactment. 

7. A city council may incorporate two adjoining wards into 
an election district, and appoint the place of election. 

8. If a town has over five hundred voters, the supervisors 
may divide it into two election districts, and thereafter at each 
annual town meeting there are elected three election judges and 
two clerks. 

9. Should the town meeting fail to designate a place of elec- 
tion, it shall be determined by the judges of election. 

10. Whenever ten persons, or more, residing in an unorgan- 
ized or partially organized county, petition the Governor for a 
new election district, he is authorized, provided it is not within 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT. 35 

ten miles of an existing election district, to establish it, and to 
appoint three judges of election and two clerks. Within six 
weeks of an annual election, and three weeks of a special elec- 
tion, he is required to publish in some newspaper of the State, 
a list of the election districts and election places by him es- 
tablished. 

11. The ballot box of each district must be provided with 
a lock and key, and have an opening through the lid of suffi- 
cient size to admit a single folded ballot, and no more. 

12. Notice of election is given by each city and town clerk ; 
fifteen days before the annual election and ten days before any 
special election, and posted in three public places, containing 
the list of officers to be elected. 

13. A poll list is required to be made by the election judges 
at least fifteen days before any election, containing the names of 
all qualified voters, with the surnames arranged in alphabetical 
order; and this list is posted at least ten clays before an election, 
in three public places. On the Wednesday preceding the elec- 
tion, and if necessary on the three following days, the judges 
meet for the purpose of making corrections in the list. 

14. If any person offers to vote whose name is not enrolled, 
upon producing evidence that he is a qualified voter, satisfactory 
to all the judges, his name is placed on the list and he is allowed 
to vote. 

15. If any election judge is absent, disqualified, or refuses to 
act, the qualified voters present shall, by voice, elect some quali- 
fied voter of the election district, to act as judge ; and if a clerk 
is absent or disqualified, the election judges appoint another. 

16. Each judge and clerk takes and subscribes the following 

oath: U IA B (judge or clerk of the election, as the 

case may be), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will perform 

the duties of , according to law and the best of my 

ability, and that I will studiously endeavor to prevent fraud, 
deceit, and abuse, in conducting this election, so help me God." 

17. The judges, before the opening of an election, are re- 
quired to post at the voting places, in the English language, any 
amendment to the State constitution submitted for approval 
or rejection by the voters. 



36 MINNESOTA 

; 1 8. At all general elections the polls open at eight o'clock in the 
I forenoon and close at half-past five o'clock in the afternoon. Im- 
i mediately before the opening of the polls, at least one judge of 
| election, in the presence of those assembled, is required to open 
the ballot box, turn it upside down so as to empty it of any- 
thing that may be therein, and then lock it. The key of the 
box is kept by one of the judges during the polling, and the box 
is not again opened until the ballots are to be counted. 

19. The ballot must be a paper ticket, and contain thereon 
the name of the office to be filled, and of the person for whom 
the elector intends to vote, written or printed, or partly written 
and partly printed. Each elector must place on one ballot the 
names of all persons for .whom he votes. 

20. The voter, at the voting place, delivers his ballot to an 
election judge, who then plainly pronounces the name of the 
person presenting the same, and if the name of the voter is found 
on the list, the judge deposits the ballot, without opening, in the 
box, and the election clerks check the name on the list. 

21. After the polls are closed, the ballots, unopened, are taken 
from the box and counted, to ascertain whether the number 
thereof corresponds with the number of persons on the lists 
checked as having voted. If the ballots in the box shall exceed 
in number the names on the checked list, they shall be again 
placed in the box, and then one of the judges, without looking 
in the box, shall take out singly, and destroy unopened, a num- 
ber of ballots equal to such excess. 

22. The judges then proceed to count and ascertain the num- 
ber of votes cast for each person voted for. The ticket is dis- 
tinctly read, and when canvassed, one of the judges shall string 
it upon a string. The clerk writes the name of every person 
voted for, at full length, the office for which such votes were 
cast, and the number of votes received. 

KULES AS TO QUALIFIED YOTEES. 

23. That place is held to be the residence of a person, where 
his habitation is fixed without any present intention of remov- 
ing, and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention 
of returning. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 37 

24. A person who goes into another county of the State, or 
iuto another State, for temporary purposes, does not lose his res- 
idence. 

25. If a man's family resides in one place and he does busi- 
ness in another, the former is his place of residence; but if his 
family refuse to reside where he has taken up his abode, then 
he may vote at the latter place. 

26. If a person votes in any district where he does not re- 
side, he is liable to imprisonment for not less than one, nor more 
than six months. 

27. If a person is challenged by an election judge or an elec- 
tor,on the ground that he is not a citizen,and has not declared his 
intention to become such, after being duly sworn, he is asked: 

First — Are you a citizen of the United States? 

Second — Are you a native or a naturalized citizen? 

Third — Have you declared your intention to become a citizen 
of the United States, conformably to the laws of the United 
States upon the subject of naturalization. 

28- If a person is challenged on the ground that he has not 
resided within the State for four months immediately preceding 
the election, he is asked: 

First — Have you resided in this State four months immedi- 
ately preceding this election? 

Second — Have you been absent from this State within the 
four months immediately preceding this election? If yes, then; 

Third — When you left did you leave for a temporary purpose, 
with the design of returning, or for the purpose of remaining away. 

Fourth — Did you, while absent, regard this State as your 
home ? 

Fifth — Did you, while absent, vote in any other State? 

29- If challenged on the ground that he is not a resident of 
the election district, the person is asked: 

First — When did you last come into this election district? 

Second — When you came did you come for a temporary pur- 
pose merely, or for the purpose of making it your home ? 

Third — Did you move into the district for the purpose of vot- 
ing here? 



38 MINNESOTA 

Foukth — Are you an actual resident of this district? 
On page 2, section 8, will be found a statement as to the 
persons who are entitled to vote. 

QUESTIONS. 

When are the annual elections held ? How are the President and 
Vice-president chosen ? Who act as judges and clerks of election in or- 
ganized towns ? In cities ? Under what conditions may the Governor 
establish election districts ? How is the ballot box prepared ? What 
are the regulations as to registering the names of voters . At what 
hours do the polls open and close? Of what material must the ballot 
be ? How are the ballots counted ? Mention some of the rules as to 
the qualification of voters ? 



CHAPTER VII. 
PUBLIC EDUCATION, 



1 . By the constitution of the State it is made the duty of the 
legislature to support a thorough, efficient, and uniform system 
of public schools. 

2. Two sections, or one thousand two hundred and eighty 
acres of land, are granted in each township by the United 
States, the proceeds from the sales of which is a perpetual school 
fund, and the income arising" from the fund is distributed 
throughout the State, in proportion to the number of scholars 
in each township between the ages of five and twenty-one 
years. 

3. The public school funds in the State treasury are, hj the 
State superintendent of public instruction, apportioned among 
the counties of the State on the first Monday in October of each 
year, and also in March. 

4. This apportionment is made in proportion to the number 
of scholars between the ages of five and twenty-one years, in 
good faith enrolled in the public schools that have been in ses- 
sion at least three months within the year, and taught by a 
qualified teacher. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 3Q 

5. It is the duty of the state superintendent of public instruc- 
tion, after he has made a semi-annual apportionment, to trans- 
mit a certified copy thereof to the state auditor. 

6. In addition to the income of the fund from the sale of 
school lands, the county commissioners levy an annual tax for 
school purposes of one-tenth of one per cent, on the amount of 
assessment made by the assessors of each town; and there is 
also set apart by each county treasurer for the support of 
schools, all fines not otherwise appropriated, and all moneys aris- 
ing from liquor licenses. 

!2f For the organization of school districts, see page 6. 

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

7. Any city, town, village, or school district may be organ- 
ized into an independent school district, provided there is no 
special law regulating its schools, and it has 500 inhabitants. 

8. To effect an organization, a written notice, signed by at 
least six of the resident freeholders, must be posted in three of 
the most public places at least ten days before, requesting the 
qualified electors in the district to assemble at a specified place 
and time, there to vote by ballot for or against the organiza- 
tion. 

9. In case a majority of the votes are in favor of organiza- 
tion, within twenty days thereafter notice shall be given by the 
chairman and clerk of the meeting which voted to organize, of 
another meeting at the same place, to choose by ballot six di- 
rectors of the public schools of said independent district. Two 
of these directors shall serve for one year; two for two years; 
two for three yeais; and annually thereafter, on the first Satur- 
day in September, shall in the same manner be chosen two di- 
rectors, each of whom shall serve for three years. Within five 
days after election the directors are requireed to file their 
oath of office in the office of the district clerk. 

10. The directors and their successors are a body corporate, 
by the name of u The board of directors of " 

11. Within ten days after their election, and annually there- 
after on the third Saturday in September, the board is required 
to meet and organize by choosing a president, clerk, and treas- 
urer, who shall hold their offices for one year, and they may by 



40 MINNESOTA 

ballot elect a superintendent, who shall hold his office during 
the pleasure of the board. 

12. The board has power to provide necessary rooms or 
buildings, to establish grades of schools, to furnish fuel, to pro- 
tect school property, and to employ teachers, and must keep 
schools in operation not less than twelve nor more than forty 
four weeks in each year, by legally qualified teachers. 

STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

13- Minnesota has three normal schools for the education of 
teachers for the common schools of the State; one at Winona 
one at Mankato, and one at St. Cloud. 

14- The State normal school board is composed of six di- 
rectors, together with the state superintendent of public instruc- 
tion. 

15. Biennially, on the last Tuesday in February, the Gov- 
ernor appoints, with the consent of the senate, three directors 
for a term of four years, to fill vacancies. These enter upon 
their duties on the first of June, succeeding their confirmation, 
and only one member of the board can be appointed from each 
of the counties of Winona, Blue Earth, and Stearns. 

16- The state superintendent of public instruction is secre- 
tary of the board, and the directors every two years elect one 
of their number president. 

17- No professor or teacher in a normal school receives more 
than two thousand dollars a year for salary or services. 

18- The normal school board prescribes the course of study, 
the conditions of admission, and confer suitable diplomas upon 
persons completing the full course of study, and has power to 
establish a model school in each of the normal schools. 

19- The principal of each school is required, in his annual 
report to the state superintendent, to mention the total num- 
ber of graduates of such school who are then engaged in teach- 
ing, and the places where they are giving instruction. 

20- For students who file a declaration to teach for two years 
in the public schools of this State, there is no charge for tui- 
tion. 

HIGH SCHOOL BOARD. 

21. The high school board consists of the state superintend- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 41 

.ent of public instruction, the president of the University of 
Minnesota, and one other person appointed by the Governor for 
a term of three years. 

22. Any public graded school in an incorporated village, or 
any school which has adopted the township system, giving 
preparatory instruction according to the act creating the high 
school board, may receive pecuniary aid from the State on the 
following conditions: 

First — It must have regular and orderly courses of study in 
the branches required for admission to the collegiate department 
of the State University, or the sub-freshman class. 

Second — The members of the board, or inspectors appointed 
by the board, must be permitted to visit and examine the classes 
pursuing the preparatory collegiate course. 

23. Any of the designated schools which have complied 
with the above provisions, and whose applications have been 
approved, shall, in the order of its application, receive four hun- 
dred dollars in each year from the moneys apportioned by the 
legislature. 

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. 

24. The University of Minnesota, by the constitution, is 
established at or near the Falls of St. Anthony. 

25. It has five departments; that of elementary instruction; 
the college of science, literature, and arts; a college of agricul- 
ture, including military tactics; a college of the mechanic arts;j 
a college or department of law, and also of medicine. 

26. There are ten regents with whom rests its government, j 
They are the Governor, the state superintendent of public in- 
struction, the president of the University, and seven others ap-l 
pointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the I 
senate, whose terms of office are three years. 

27. The University is supported by the income from the 
-sale of University lands, and by legislative appropriations. 

28. Any person selling or disposing of any spirituous,vinous, 
or malt liquors within a distance of three-quarters* of a mile of 
the University, is liable to a fine of not less than fifty nor more 

*By law of 18 j J changed to one m ; le, and on the east side of the Mississippi 
river. 



42 MINNESOTA 

than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not less than two 
nor more than twelve months. 

MINNESOTA INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF, THE BLIND, AND THE IM- 
BECILE. 

29. This institute embraces three separate departments, viz: 
a school for the education of the deaf and dumb ; one for the 
blind, and another for the education and training of imbeciles- 
and idiots; all under the management of one board. 

30. It is controlled by a board of seven directors, two of 
whom, ex-officio, are the Governor and superintendent of public 
instruction. The remaining five are appointed by the Governor,, 
for terms of five years each. 

31. All deaf persons and all blind persons residing in the 
State, of suitable age and capacity to receive instruction, can be 
admitted into the institute and educated, free of charge, except 
for clothing and transportation. 

32. The directors of the institute are required to report to 
the Governor for the use of the legislature, early in each session, 
giving full and definite information concerning the three schools,, 
the officers and persons employed, the pupils in attendance, and 
an accurate account of all moneys received and distributed, ac- 
companied by reports from the respective superintendents. 

SCHOOL FOR IDIOTS AND IMBECILES. 

33. All imbeciles and idiotic children and youth, who have 
resided one year in the State, can be received upon the recom- 
mendation of the superintendent of the school and the approval 
of. the directors. 

34. Children who have no parents living, or of those unable 
to provide for them, are made a charge upon the counties where 
they reside, for clothing and transportation. 

REFORM SCHOOL. 

35. The Minnesota State Reform School is situated in Ram- 
sey county, near the city of Saint Paul, toward the city of Min- 
neapolis. 

36. Boys and girls under sixteen years of age are received in 
this institution. 

37. Its affairs are conducted by a board of four managers,, 
and one is appointed each year by the Governor for a term of 
four years. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 43 

38. A justice of the peace can commit a minor to the Reform 
chool, if he is found incorrigible by at least two disinterested 
itnesses. 

39- Before the managers of the Reform School can admit a 
erson to the school, the commitment must be approved by the 
idge of the district court and of the district to which the 
Diinty from which such person is committed, belongs. 

40. The justice of the peace is required to take the testimony 
P each witness in writing, and transmit the same to the judge 
£ the district court. 

41. The children received by the Reform School managers 
re clothed, maintained, and instructed by said managers at the 
ublic expense of the State. Provided, however, that when 
ich conviction is solely from the incorrigibility, then such infant 
lall be so clothed, maintained, and instructed by said managers 
: the expense of the proper county from which such infant is 
uit; and the account of all infants so committed for incorrigi- 
ility shall be kept by the managers in an intelligible and proper 
tanner. 

STATE BOARD OF CHART' 7 " 

.42 A State board of corrections and charities was created by 
le Legislature, and on March 2, 1883, the act was approved by 
le Governor. 

QUESTIONS. 

How is the public school system supported ? How much land in each 
wnship is set apart for school purposes ? What proportion of prop- 
ty valuation is levied as a school tax by the county commissioners? 
ow are independent school districts formed? How many normal 
hools are there in the State, and how are they governed ? What are 
Le duties of the high school board, and what powers does it possess ? 
ow was the University of Minnesota created, and how is it governed? 
ow is the institution of the deaf, dumb, and blind controlled ? Who are 
ititled to instruction in this institution ? Name some of the directors' 
ities ? Who are entitled to admission to the school for imbeciles and 
lots? 



44 MINNESOTA 

CHAPTER VIII. 
BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS, 



HOSPITAL FOR THE ItfSAKE. 

1. The Minnesota Hospital for the Insane at Saint Peter is 
in charge of seven trustees, who serve terms of six years each. 

2. The trustees are paid their necessary expenses while in 
discharge of their official duties, and their annual meeting is 
held at the hospital on the first Wednesday in December. 

3. They have power to appoint a regular and well educated 
physician as medical superintendent, and other necessary of- 
ficers. 

4. The superintendent has the general control and manage- 
ment of the hospital, and may suspend any subordinate officer 
until an examination is had. 

5. All patients admitted are maintained at the public ex- 
pense, free of charge to relatives or friends. 

6. The probate judge, or in his absence the court commis- 
sioner of any county, upon information filed that an insane 
person needs care and treatment, can cause said person to be 
examined by two besides himself, one of whom must be a phy- 
sician. 

7. If the person is found to be insane, the judge shall 
issue duplicate warrants committing the said insane person to 
the care of the superintendent of the hospital, and the war- 
rant is placed in the hands of the sheriff or some other proper 
person, to convey the one found insane to the hospital. 

8. The duplicate warrant is filed in the superintendent's of- 
fice, and the original, with the superintendent's endorsement, 
is returned to the judge of probate. 

9. Examiners of the insane are allowed three dollars a day, 
and fifteen cents per mile traveled, 

10. Certain clothing, specified bylaw, must accompany each 
person admitted to the hospital. When a patient is discharged 
as cured, suitable clothing is provided by the superintendent^ 
and money sufficient to take the patient home, and the superin- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 45 

tendent is further required to send by mail, a certificate of dis- 
charge to the probate judge upon whose warrant the patient 
was admitted. 

11. The Governor appoints a commission of three directors, 
whose term of office is two years, to examine the hospital for 
the insane at least once in six months, and make a report with- 
n ten days after the visit, as to the mental and physical condi- 
tion of the patients. 

12. The commission has power to remand to the judge 
of the probate court, any patient of whose insanity they have 
reason to doubt, and if the judge is satisfied that the patient is 
sane, he can discharge him from the hospital, 

SECOND OR BRANCH HOSPITAL. 

13. At Rochester, in Olmsted county, is a second or branch 
hospital, under the trustees of the hospital at Saint Peter. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where are the hospitals for the insane located ? Who have charge 
of the institutions '? What is their term of office ? Who has the gen- 
eral control and management ? Who authorizes the commitment of in- 
sane persons to the hospital ? What compensation does the examining 
commission receive? Who appoints this commission? What are its 
powers ? 



CHAPTER IX. 
PENAL 



STATE PRISON. 

1 . The State prison is at Stillwater, in Washington county r 
and is under the direction of three inspectors, whose term of 
office is three years, one of whom is annually appointed by 
the Governor, by and with the consent of the senate. 

2. The officers of the prison are, a warden, who is principal 
keeper, and clerk of the inspectors, a deputy warden, who shall 
be chief turnkey, a physician, and chaplain, with necessary 
assistants. 

3. The warden is appointed by the Governor, with the con- 



46 MINNESOTA 

•sent of the senate, for a term of two years, at an annual salary 
of one thousand eight hundred dollars; the chaplain and phy- 
sician are appointed by the board of directors; the deputy war- 
den and assistants are appointed by the warden. 

4. The inspectors make all necessary rales for the direction 
and government of the officers of the prison. 

5. The warden or his deputy keeps a daily journal of the 
proceedings of the prison, and makes a memoranda of any com- 
plaint made by a convict, of cruel or unjust treatment, or a want 
of proper food and clothing. 

6. The warden's duties are to exercise supervision and give 
necessary orders to the keepers and guards, examine daily as to 
the health of the prisoners, and take charge of the real and per- 
sonal estate belonging to the prison. 

7. The inspectors and warden have power to lease the prison 
shops and any vacant ground, and to let to service all able 
bodied convicts to the lessee of the shops. The rents, revenues, 
and profits from the shops are paid to the warden, and placed 
by him in the State treasury. 

8. No officer of the prison is allowed to employ the con- 
victs in any work in which he is interested. 

9. The warden is required to furnish, at the expense of the 
State, a Bible to each convict who can read. A convict on his 
discharge receives a suit of clothes and a sum of money not 
exceeding ten dollars. 

10. No spirituous or fermented liquors are allowed in the 
prison, except upon the order of the physician. 

1 1 . All convicts who have been sentenced for a term of one 
or two years, who do not violate the rules and discipline of the 
prison during the first month of imprisonment, are entitled to a 
diminution of two days from their sentence; if at the end of 
the second month there is no infraction, four additional days 
are taken off; if at the end of the third month good conduct 
continues, six additional days are deducted, and for each subse- 
quent month, six days shall be taken each month from the pe- 
riod of sentence. 

12. If any convict maintains good conduct during his 
whole term of sentence, the warden gives him a certificate there- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 47 

of, which being presented to the Governor, he is entitled to res- 
toration to the rights of citizenship. 

13. In addition to the diminution of the term of service for 
good conduct, a convict is entitled to compensation for the same 
number of days, at the same price per day as the State receives 
for the labor of said convict. 

LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE IN STATE INSTITUTIONS 

14. All persons confined under the laws of the State are 
allowed spiritual advice and ministration from any recognized 
clergyman of the denomination to which they belonged. 

1 5 # One hour in each week, between nine in the morning 
and five in the afternoon, can be set apart, in which a clergy- 
man may impart moral and religious instruction to those who 
belong: to his denomination. 

16, No person confined can be required to attend any relig- 
ious service or devotions against his will, if he has attained to his 
majority, and if he is a minor he is not obliged to attend contrary 
to the expressed direction of his parents, guardian, or clergyman 
having spiritual charge. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where is the State prison located ? Under what supervision is it con- 
ducted ? What is their term of office ? Name the officers of the prison ? 
Mention some of the warden's duties ? What powers have the inspec- 
tors ? How may a term of imprisonment be diminished ? What liberty 
of conscience is allowed to persons confined in State penal or reform- 
atory institutions ? 



CHAPTER X. 
LAW AS TO MARRIAGE. 



1, Marriage in law is considered a civil contract, to which 
the consent of the parties, capable in law, is essential. 

2. Every male person who has attained to the age of eigh- 
teen years, and every female fifteen years of age, is capable 
in law, of contracting marriage, if otherwise competent. 



48 MINNESOTA 

3. No marriage can be legally contracted when either of 
the parties has a husband or wife living; nor between parties 
who are nearer than first cousins, computing by the rules of the 
civil law, whether the half or whole blood. 

4. Marriages may be solemnized by any justice of the peace, 
in the county wherein he is elected, by any judge of a court of 
record throughout the State; and by any ordained minister of 
the gospel, in regular communion with any religious society. 

5. Ministers of the gospel, before they are authorized to per- 
form the marriage rites, must file a copy of his credentials with 
the clerk of the district court of some county, who records the 
same and gives a certificate thereof, and the place where such 
credentials are recorded shall be endorsed upon each certificate 
of marriage granted by any minister, and recorded with the 
same. 

6. All persons authorized to solemnize marriages may ad- 
minister an oath to at least one of the parties intending mar- 
riage, in ascertaining if there is any legal impediment thereto. 

7. Before persons can be joined in marriage a license must 
be obtained from the clerk of the district court where the fe- 
male resides, but if she is not a resident of the State, then from 
the clerk of the court in the county where the marriage is to 
take place. If there is no clerk in the county where the female 
resides, or the marriage is to take place, a license is not re- 
quired. 

8. The clerk of the district court being satisfied that there 
is no legal impediment, grants a marriage license. Should the 
parties contemplating marriage be under age, and shall not have 
had a former wife or husband, the consent of the parents or 
guardian must be personally given to the clerk, or certified un- 
der the hand of such parent or guardian, attested by two wit- 
nesses, one of whom shall appear before the clerk and swear or 
affirm that he saw the said parent or guardian subscribe, or 
heard him or her acknowledge the same, and then the clerk may 
issue a license. The clerk is entitled to receive as his fee for ad- 
ministering the oath and granting the license, with the seal 
affixed, and afterward recording the certificate of marriage, the 
sum of two dollars. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 49 

9- Two witnesses must be present at the performance of a 
marriage, besides the person performing the ceremony. 

10. The person solemnizing the marriage shall give to each 
of the parties, if requested, a certificate specifying the names 
and residence of the parties, the time and place of such mar- 
riage, and the names of two witnesses, and he shall also deliver 
to the clerk of the court who issued the license, a similar certificate. 

1 1 . Any person who solemnizes a marriage and fails to de- 
liver to the clerk of the court a certificate thereof, shall forfeit 
a sum not more than one hundred dollars. 

12. AH marriages solemnized by the people known as 
Quakers or Friends are valid, and the clerk of the meeting, 
within one month after every marriage, is required to deliver a 
certificate thereof to the clerk of the district court of the 
county where such marriage took place. 

QUESTIONS. 

How is marriage considered in law ? Who are competent to contract 
marriage? Who are authorized to solemnize marriage? Who issues 
the marriage license ? What are the duties of the person solemnizing 
the marriage ? What exception to the foregoing law ? What are the 
requirements in case of a marriage among Quakers. 



CHAPTER XL 

ABSTRACT OF STATE CONSTITU- 
TION. 



PEEAMBLE. 

1. The preamble is brief, and declares that "the people 
of the State of Minnesota are grateful to God for civil and 
religious liberty," and for the purpose of procuring the same for 
themselves and their posterity they have established this consti- 
tution. 

ARTICLE FIRST — BILL OF RIGHTS. 

2. In this article is the declaration that all government is 
instituted for the security, benefit, and protection of the people, 
in whom all political power is inherent. 



50 MINNESOTA 

3. Slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime, is pro- 
hibited, and no citizen can be disfranchised, except by law or 
judgment of his peers. Liberty of the press is inviolate, and 
the speedy trial by jury accorded the accused. 

4. No one in time of peace can be held to answer for a 
criminal offense unless by presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury, and for the same offense cannot be put twice in jeopardy 
of presentment. In a criminal case no one can be compelled to 
testify against himself. 

5. Treason is defined to be levying war against the State, 
or in giving aid and comfort to its ^enemies. No bill of attain- 
der, ex-post facto law, nor law impairing the obligations of con- 
tracts can ever be passed,nor can people be subject to unwarrant- 
able seizures and searches and imprisonment for debt. Com- 
pensation is allowed for private property taken for public use. 
and a reasonable amount of property is exempt from seizure 
and sales. 

! 6. The military is subordinate to the civil power, and no 
standing army is allowed in time of peace. Feudal tenures of 
every description are prohibited. 

7. The right of every one to worship God is protected, and 
all rights of conscience not inconsistent with the peace and 
public welfare, but no public savings can be used for the benefit 
of church organizations or religious seminaries. No religious 
tests or property qualification is ever to be required. 

AKTICLE SECOND. — NAME AND BOUNDARIES. 

8. The State is to be known as the State of Minnesota, with 
certain boundaries which are there defined. It has concurrent 
jurisdiction in the Mississippi, and all other rivers and waters 
bordering on the State. 

ARTICLE THIRD. — DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS OF GOVERNMENT. 

9. The government is divided into the legislative, executive, 
and judicial departments. 

10. Article first, legislative department, treats of the time of : 
meeting, length of session, and apportionment of members of 
the legislature. Also as to the duties and privileges of mem- 
bers of said house; the reading, enrolling, and passing of bills; 
forbids the authorization of any lottery and the granting of 
divorces. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 51 

11. It further provides for a State census every tenth year 
after A. D. 1865, and prescribes the electing of members of the 
legislature, and of United States senators. 

12. By an amendment adopted on the 8th of November, 1871, 
provision is made for the taxation of railroad companies, and by an 
amendment of 1872, it directs as to the appraisement and sale 
of internal improvement lands, and the investment of the pro- 
ceeds. In 1881 another amendment was adopted, prohibiting 
special legislation upon certain subjects. 

ARTICLE FIFTH. — EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

13. The officers constituting the executive department are 
mentioned, and the terms of office and duties are defined. 

ARTICLE SIXTH. — THE JUDICIARY. 

14. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, district 
courts, probate courts, and justices of the peace. The article 
treats of the jurisdiction of the supreme court, and the mode of 
electing its judges; district courts and judges; probate court 
and judges; and justices of the peace. 

ARTICLE SEVENTH. — ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. 

15. After mentioning the persons who can and who cannot 
vote, it provides for elections by ballot, and freedom from ar- 
rest on civil process on election day. 

16. By an amendment adopted in 1875, women may vote 
on school subjects, and for school officers, and may hold any 
office pertaining to schools. 

ARTICLE EIGHTH. — SCHOOL FUND, EDUCATION, AND SCIENCE. 

17. It is made the duty of the legislature to establish a 
general and uniform system of public schools. The proceeds 
of all school lands are made a perpetual school fund, and the I 
income arising from such fund is distributed to the several j 
townships in proportion to the number of scholars between the i 
ages of five and twenty-one years. The University of Minne- 
sota, incorporated under territorial law, is declared to be the 
University of the State of Minnesota. 

ARTICLE NINTH. — FINANCES, I ;ANKS, AND BANKING. 

18. Provision is made that all taxes be as nearly equal as 
possible. An annual tax is to be levied by each legislature to 



52 MINNESOTA 

meet necessary expenses. Public Burying grounds, public 
schoolhouses, public hospitals, academies, colleges, universities, 
and* all seminaries of learning, all churches, church property 
used for religious purposes, and houses of worship, institutions, 
of purely public charity, public property used exclusively for 
any public purpose, and personal property to an amount not ex- 
ceeding in value two hundred dollars for each individual, are 
exempt from taxation. 

19. Property employed in banking is subject to taxation. 
By an amendment of 1872, the legislature cannot authorize any 
county, township, or municipal corporation to issue bonds for 
the construction of any railroad to any amount exceeding ten 
per centum of the value of taxable property within its limits. 

ARTICLE TENTH. — CORPORATIONS. 

20. Corporations are defined to be associations and joint 
stock companies, without banking privileges. They cannot be 
formed under special acts except for municipal purposes. Each 
stockholder in any corporation, excepting those for a mechan- 
ical or manufacturing purpose, is liable to the amount of stock 
held or owned by him. 

ARTICLE ELEVENTH. — COUNTIES AND TOWNSHIPS. 

21. The legislature is authorized to establish and organize 
new counties, but no county can have less than four hundred 
square miles, and may organize cities of more than twenty 
thousand inhabitants into a separate county. 

ARTICLE TWELFTH. — THE MILITIA. 

22. The legislature is authorized to provide for the organi- 
zation, discipline, and service of the militia. 

ARTICLE THIRTEENTH. — IMPEACHMENT AND REMOVAL. 

23. State officers and judges may be impeached for corrupt 
conduct in office, may be removed and disqualified to hold any 
office of honor, trust, or profit inside the State. 

ARTICLE POURTEENTH. — AMENDMENTS. 

24. The legislature may propose amendments to the con- 
stitution, which shall be submitted to the people for their ap- 
proval or rejection. 

25. Whenever two-thirds of the members elected to each 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 53 

branch of the legislature shall think it necessary to call a 
convention to revise the constitution, they can recommend 
the electors to vote at the next election for members of the leg- 
islature, for or against a convention, and if a majority are in 
favor, the next legislature shall provide by law for calling the 
same. 

ARTICLE FIFTEENTH. MISCELLANEOUS. 

26- This article contains several provisions as to the seat of 
government, seal of State, and residence on Indian lands. 

THE SCHEDULE. 

27. The schedule merely contains provisions to avoid incon- 
venience in the changing from a territorial to a permanent 
State government; the submission of the constitution to the 
vote of the people; and the first session of the State legisla- 
ture. 

QUESTIONS. 

For whom is government instituted ? What is forbidden by the constitu- 
tion of Minnesota ? Define treason ? Mention the relation of the military 
to the civil power? What is the provision as to the worship of God, 
rights of conscience, religious tests, and the use of public moneys for 
churches or religious seminaries ? Give the boundaries of Minnesota '? 
How is the government divided ? Mention the principal provisions as 
to the legislative department ? What laws are the legislature prohib- 
ited from passing? When is the State census taken? What does the 
fifth article relate to ? In what courts is the judicial power vested? 
What is the substance of the article on the elective franchise ? What is 
the provisions for elections ? What property is exempted from taxation ? 
What are corporations, and the provisions concerning them ? Mention 
the provisions as to new counties? How can the constitution be 
amended ? 



54 



MINNESOTA. 



CHAPTER XII. 



ABSTRACT OF THE CONSTITUTION 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

OF AMERICA. 



HISTOEICAL NOTE. 

1, A congress of delegates of several English colonies in 
North America met on the 5th of September, 1774, at Carpen- 
ter's Hall, Philadelphia, to effect a closer bond of union. On 
the 15th of November, 1777, congress agreed to articles of 
confederation, subject to the ratification of the States, but it 
was not until March, 1781, that they were fully ratified, and 
then they were found to be insufficient for raising a revenue 
and controlling foreign trade. 

% In the congress of the confederation, on the 21st 
of February, 1787, it was agreed that a convention should be 
called to meet on the second Monday of the next May, to 
amend the articles of confederation so that they would be ade- 
quate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of 
the Union. On the 14th of May the convention assem- 
bled at the State House in Philadelphia, and having framed a 
constitution, on the 17th of September adjourned. It 
was ratified first by the State of Delaware, on the 7th of 
December, 1789, and last by Rhode Island, on the " 21st of 
May, 1790. 

PEEAMBLE. 

3. We, the people of the United States, in order to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquil- 
ity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, 
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our poster- 
ity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United 
States of America. 

AETICLE FIRST. 

4. Vests all legislative powers in a congress consisting of 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 55 

a senate and house of representatives, members of the latter to 
be chosen every second year by the people of the several States, 
and to be at least twenty-five years of age, and seven years a 
citizen of the United States. 

5. Representatives, and direct taxes, are to be apportioned 
among the several States according to their respective popula- 
tion. Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, and they have the sole power of impeachment. 

6. The senate is composed of two senators from each State, 
chosen by their legislatures. No person can be a senator who is 
not thirty years of age, and has not been a citizen of the 
United States for nine years. 

7. The Vice-president of the United States is president 
of the senate, but has no vote except the senate is equally di- 
vided. If he is absent, or called to exercise the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States, the senate elects a president pro tem- 
pore. 

8- The senate tries all impeachments, and if the President 
of the United States is tried, the chief justice presides. Judg- 
ments in cases of impeachment extend to removal from office, 
and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, 
or profit. 

9. Congress assembles on the first Monday in December, 
and it is left to the legislature of each State to prescribe the 
times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and 
representatives. 

10. Each house is the judge of the qualifications of its 
members, and a majority in each is a quorum to transact busi- 
ness. Each house makes its own rules, and keeps a journal of 
its proceedings, and by a two-thirds vote may expel a member 
for disorderly behavior. 

11. The compensation of members of congress is fixed by 
law, and paid from the United States treasury. Except in cases 
of trespass, felony, and breach of the peace, they are privileged 
from arrest while attending congress. No member can be ap- 
pointed to any civil office under the United States which has 
been created, or whose emoluments have been increased during 
the time for whicn he w T as elected. 

12. Bills for raising revenue originate in the house of rep- 



56 MINNESOTA 

resentatives. All bills after they have passed the house and 
senate, must be signed by the President of the United States, to 
become a law. 

13. If the President disapproves, he returns a bill to the 
house in which it originated, with his objections. If, upon re- 
consideration, the bill is passed by two-thirds of each house, it 
becomes a law without the. President's signature. 

14. If the President does not return a bill for ten days, 
Sundays excepted, it becomes a law, unless congress by its ad- 
journment prevents its return. Every order or resolution must 
also be approved by the President or be returned in the same 
way as a bill, and be subject to the same rules. 

15. Congress has the following powers: 

To levy and collect taxes, duties, and imports, which shall be 
uniform throughout the United States. 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States. 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, the several States, 
and Indian tribes. 

To establish uniform laws as to naturalization and bank- 
ruptcy. 

To coin money, regulate the value of foreign coin, and fix 
the standard of weights and measures. 

To punish counterfeiting. 

To establish post-offices and post-roads. 

To promote science and the useful arts, and to protect au- 
thors and inventors. 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court. 

To punish treason on the high seas, and offenses against inter- 
national law. 

To declare war, and grant letters of marque. 

To raise and support armies, and make appropriations there- 
for for a period not longer than two years. 

To provide and maintain a navy. 

To make regulations for the army and navy. 

To call out the militia to execute the laws of the Union. 

To organize, arm, and discipline the militia, the several States 
reserving the right to the apportionment of officers. 

To exercise exclusive legislation over the district in which is 
the capital of the United States, and the sites purchased by the 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 57 

consent of a State legislature for the erection of needful build- 
ings. 

To make all laws necessary for executing the foregoing pow- 
ers. 

16. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus cannot be 
suspended, unless in cases of rebellion or invasion, or when the 
public safety may require. 

17. No bills of attainder or ex-post facto law can be 
passed, no tax or duty can be levied on articles exported from 
any State, and no money can be drawn from the treasury, un- 
less an appropriation is made by law. 

18. No title of nobility can be granted, and no United 
States officer, without the consent of congress, can accept any 
present from any king, prince, or foreign State. 

19. No State can make treaties, coin money, emit bills of 
credit, pass any bill of attainder, ex-post facto law, or law im- 
pairing can tracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

20. No State can, without the consent of congress, levy any 
duty or tonnage, keep troops in time of peace, enter into com- 
pact with another State or foreign power, or engage in any 
war, unless actually invaded, or in such danger as will not ad- 
mit of delay. 

ARTICLE SECOND. — THE EXECUTIVE POWER. 

21. The executive power is vested in the President of the 
United States of America, who is elected for a term of four 
years, who must be a natural born citizen, and at least thirty- 
five years of age. 

22. Together with the Vice-president he is chosen by 
electors of each State, equal to the whole number of its sena- 
tors and representatives in congress. 

23. In case of the death, resignation, removal from office, 
or inability to discharge its duties, it devolves upon the Vice- 
president to act as President. In case of death, resignation, 
removal from office, or inability of the Vice-president, congress 
designates which officer shall act as President, until the disa- 
bility is removed, or a President is elected. 

24. The President is commander in chief of the army and 
navy, and of the militia of the several States. 



58 MINNESOTA 

25. He mav require the written opinion of the head of each 
executive department upon any subject pertaining to that de- 
partment, and is empowered to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of impeach- 
ment. 

26. He has power to make treaties, with the concurrence of 
two-thirds of the members of the senate; and he nominates,, 
and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoints 
ambassadors and other public ministers, consuls, judges of the 
supreme court, and other officers whose appointments shall be 
established by law and not otherwise provided for by the con- 
stitution. 

27. From time to time he gives congress information as to- 
the state of the Union, and recommends such measures as he 
deems necessary and expedient, and on extraordinary occasions 
he may convene either or both houses. 

ARTICLE THIRD. — JUDICIAL POWER. 

28. Tne judicial power is vested in a supreme court, and 
inferior courts created by congress. The judges hold their of- 
fices during good behavior. 

29. The judicial power extends to all cases m law and equity 
under the constitution, and treaties; to all cases affecting am- 
bassadors, ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and 
maritime jurisdiction; to controversies in which the United 
States is a party, and between two or more States, between a 
State and citizen of another State, and between cities of differ- 
ent States, etc., etc. 

30. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment,, 
shall be by jury, and be held in the State where the crimes have 
been committed. 

31. Treason consists in levying war against the United 
States, adhering to, or giving aid and comfort to its enemies; 
and no person can be convicted of treason except for an overt 
act, and upon the testimony of two witnesses, or upon confes- 
sion in open court, 

32. No act of treason can affect children or heirs, and there 
can be no forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 59 

ARTICLE FOURTH. 

33. Full faith and credit must be given in each State, to 
the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other States. 

34. The citizens of each State are entitled to the privileges 
of citizens in the several States. 

35. Persons charged with treason or other crime., fi eeing 
from one State, shall, on the demand of the Governor of such 
State, be delivered up by the State in which he is found. 

36. New States may be admitted by congress into the 
Union, but no new State can be formed within the jurisdiction 
of another State, nor can a State be formed by the junction of 
two or more existing States or parts of S hates, without the 
consent of the legislatures concerned. 

37. Congress has power to dispose of and make all needful 
rules and regulations respecting the territory and other property 
of the United States. 

38. The United States guarantees to every State of the 
Union a republican form of government, and is bound to pro- 
tect them against invasion, and on application of the legisla- 
ture, or Governor when the legislature cannot meet, against do- 
mestic violence. 

ARTICLE FIFTH. 

39. Two-thirds of the members of both houses of congress 
may prepare amendments to. the constitution, or, on the appli- 
cation of the legislatures of two-thirds of the States, shall call 
a convention for preparing amendments, which shall be a part 
of the constitution as soon as ratified by the legislatures or con- 
ventions of three-fourths of the States. 

ARTICLE SIXTH. 

40. Debts contracted, and engagements of the confederation 
are valid against the United States. 

41 • The constitution and laws and treaties of the United 
States are the supreme law of the land. 

42. Members of congress and of the several State legisla- 
tures, judges and executive officers of the United States, and 
of the several States, must take an oath or affirmation to sup- 
port the constitution, but no religious test can be required. 



60 MINNESOTA 

ARTICLE SEVENTH. 

43. The ratification of the conventions of nine States is suf- 
ficient for the establishment of the constitution. 

AMENDMENTS PROPOSED SEPTEMBER 25, ±789, AND RATIFIED DE- 
CEMBER 15, 1791. 

44. First — No establishment of any form of religion or 
prohibition of the free exercise thereof. No abridgement of the 
freedom of speech or the press, or of the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition for redress of grievances. 

Second — A well regulated militia, and the right of the peo- 
ple to keep and bear arms in each State shall not be infringed. 

Third — No soldier to be quartered in any house in time of 
peace, without the consent of the owner. 

Fourth — Unreasonable searches, and seizures of persons, pa r 
pers, and effects forbidden. 

Fifth — No person to be answerable for a crime in time of 
peace, unless indicted by a grand jury, nor shall any person be 
twice in jeopardy of life or limb for the same offense, or com- 
pelled to be a witness against himself, nor shall private property 
be taken for public use without just compensation. 

Sixth — Rights to a speedy and public trial guaranteed. 

Seventh — In suits at common law, when the value exceeds 
twenty doxxcirs, there shall be trial by jury. 

Eighth — Excessive bail not to be required, nor excessive fines 
and punishments to be inflicted. 

Ninth — Rights enumerated in the constitution do not dis- 
parage those retained by the people. 

Tenth — The powers not delegated to the United States are 
reserved to the States or people respectively. 

ELEVENTH AMENDMENT, PROPOSED MARCH 5, 1794, ADOPTION 
DECLARED JANUARY 8, 1798. 

45. The judicial power of the United States is not to extend 
to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against 
any State of the Union by citizens of another State, or subjects 
of a foreign State. 

TWELFTH AMENDMENT, PROPOSED DECEMBER 12, 1803, ADOPTION 
DECLARRD SEPTEMBER 25, 1804. 

46. Electors meet in their respective States and vote, by 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 61 

ballot, for President and Vice-president, one of whom shall not 
be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. Their 
votes are transmitted under seal to the seat of the United States 
government, directed to the president of the senate, 

47. The president of the senate, in the presence of both 
houses, opens all the certificates, and the votes are then counted, 
and the person who has a majority of the whole number of 
electors, for President, is declared President. If no one has 
such majority, then the house of representatives, from the per- 
sons having the highest number of votes not exceeding three on 
the list of those voted for President, shall, by ballot, choose a 
President. 

48. The votes are taken by States, the representative of 
each State having one yote; a quorum consists of two-thirds of 
the representatives of each State, and a majority of all the 
States is necessary to a choice. 

49. If the house of representatives fail to choose before the 
first day of March next following, then the Vice-president shall 
act as President. 

50. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice-president, shall be Vice-president, if such number shall be 
a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. If no 
person has a majority, then the senate chooses a Vice-president 
from the two highest numbers on the list. 

THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT, PROPOSED FEBRUARY 1, 1865, ADOP- 
TION DECLARED DECEMBER 18, 1865. 

51. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or an}^ place 
subject to their jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to en- 
force this article by appropriate legislation. 

FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT, ADOPTION DECLARED JULY 28, 1868. 

52. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens thereof, and of the 
State in which they reside. 

53. Representatives to be apportioned among the several 
States according to their respective numbers, counting the 



62 MIIWESOTA 

whole number of persons in each 'State, excluding Indians not 
taxed. 

54. Congress, by a vote of \ two-thirds, may remove the disa- 
bilities of civil or military officers who have been engaged in re- 
bellion. 

55. Neither the United States nor any State can pay any 
debt incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion, or any claim 
for the loss of any slave. 

FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT, ADOPTION DECLARED MARCH 30, 1870. 

56. The right of citizens of the United^Btates to vote shall 
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or any State, 
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

QUESTIONS. 
When and where did the first congress of the colonies meet? When 
were the articles of confederation adopted ? When did the convention 
assemble to frame the constitution of the United States? When did it 
adjourn? Repeat the preamble to the United States constitution? 
To whom is legislation committed ? How are members of the house 
of representatives chosen ? What qualifications are necessary ? Who 
elect United States senators, and their qualifications? Mention the 
principal powers of congress ? What is congress prohibited from do- 
ing ? In whom is the executive power vested ? For what term is a 
President and Vice-president elected? How many presidential elec- 
tors in each State ? What are the qualifications for President? Who 
acts in case of his death or removal, resignation, or inability? Mention 
his principal duties ? In whom is the judicial power vested ? Men- 
tion the extent of the judicial power? What constitutes treason? 
Mention the privileges of citizens? What is the provision as to new 
States? What form of government is guaranteed to each State? 
How are amendments to the constitution secured? What is the su- 
preme law? What is required of all United States officers, and of the 
several States? When were the first amendments adopted? Men- 
tion the principal points in these? When was the eleventh amend- 
ment adopted ? Describe the method of electing the President ? When 
was the thirteenth amendment adopted? Repeat the clause as to 
slavery ? When was the fourteenth amendment adopted ? To what 
does it refer? When was the fifteenth amendment adopted? Give the 
substance of it? 



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